REAL : real English authentic learning. Skills book 3. Teacher's edition [3, Second edition.] 9782765045441

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SKILLS BOOK

REAL ENGLISH AUTHENTIC LEARNING

SANDRA COLE • ANGELIKA BRUNEL

3

SECOND EDITION

SKILLS BOOK

REAL ENGLISH AUTHENTIC LEARNING

SANDRA COLE • ANGELIKA BRUNEL

3

SECOND EDITION

Development and authoring of online workshops and supplementary web material Sheila Mawn

TEACHER’S EDITION

REAL, Real English Authentic Learning REAL Skills Book 3, Second Edition Teacher’s Edition

Acknowledgements

Sandra Cole and Angelika Brunel © 2015 TC Media Books Inc. © 2011 Chenelière Education Inc. Managing Editor: Melissa Repas Editor: Esmé Vlahos Project Managers: Josée Desjardins, Michel Raymond, and Mélanie Nadeau Researcher: Marie-Chantal Laforge Copy Editor: Eve Krakow Proofreader: Marie-Claude Rochon (Scribe Atout) Book Designer: Micheline Roy and Marguerite Gouin Cover Designer: Inspire design Printer: TC Transcontinental Printing

I wish to express deep gratitude to my dedicated editors, Esmé Vlahos and Melissa Repas, who encouraged, supported, and oversaw every detail of this project. I would also like to thank the editorial team at Chenelière Education for their dedication, creativity, and attention to detail. Finally, I am grateful for the helpful feedback of my colleagues across the province. I would like to dedicate this book to my loving husband whose support, encouragement, and healthy meals contributed greatly to the success of this project, as well as to my two sons, Joel and Lucas, who got me away from the computer for fun family time, and to my wonderful mother whose advice, insight, and unconditional love help guide me through life. – Sandra Cole

Second Edition

I would like to thank my fabulous editors Esmé Vlahos and Melissa Repas who supported, encouraged, and challenged my creative co-author Sandra Cole and me to produce our best work ever. Many thanks as well to the meticulous and hard-working team at Chenelière Education. A special thanks also goes out to our reviewers and consultants for their valuable insight. In addition, I would like to thank all of my students, past and present; they are my main motivation behind this exciting project. And lastly, my family deserves a special mention for continuing to be my ever-present support.

Includes index. For college students.

I dedicate this book to my late mother Johanna Brunel. – Angelika Brunel

Web Material Editor: Stephanie Colvey Web Material Project Manager: Josée Desjardins Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec and Library and Archives Canada cataloguing in publication Brunel, Angelika, 1965REAL: Real English Authentic Learning. Skills Book 3 Teacher’s Edition

ISBN 978-2-7650-4546-5 ISBN 978-2-7650-4544-1 1. English language – Textbooks for second language learners. 2. English language – Grammar – Problems, exercises, etc. 3. English language – Spoken English – Problems, exercises, etc. 4. English literature. i. Cole, Sandra, 1971- . ii. Title. 1. English language – Textbooks for second language learners. 2. English language – Grammar – Problems, exercises, etc. 3. English language – Spoken English – Problems, exercises, etc. 4. English literature. i. Cole, Sandra, 1971- . ii. Title. PE1128.B78 2015 PE1128.B78 2015 Suppl.

428.3’4 428.3’4

C2015-940529-7 C2015-940830-X

Thank you to the many teachers who gave invaluable feedback and suggestions, including the team of reviewers: Adam Jagiellowicz, Cégep Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu Laura McGee, Collège de Maisonneuve Leslie Rempel, Collège Édouard-Montpetit Lucie Riopel, Cégep de Sainte-Foy Trademarks are mentioned or illustrated in this work. Please note that the publisher has not received any income or advantages in return for having presented these brands. The brands are reproduced upon request by the authors to support the academic or scientific content of the work. All characters and scenarios presented in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, existing or dead, is purely coincidental.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means known or not yet known without prior permission from TC Media Books Inc. Those pages bearing the note “Reproduction permitted © TC Media Books Inc.” may be reproduced solely by the teacher whose students personally use the workbook that is an integral part of the series which includes this workbook, and exclusively for those students referred to in this paragraph. Any use not expressly authorized shall constitute an infringement, which could result in legal action against the individual or institution reproducing any part of this book without permission. ISBN 978-2-7650-4546-5 ISBN 978-2-7650-4544-1

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The complementary material published on our website is intended for use by Canadian residents only, for educational purposes only. Online purchases are only available to Canadian residents.

Legal deposit: 2nd trimester 2015 Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec National Library of Canada

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Chenelière Education and the authors shall not be held responsible or liable for any claims, whether past, present, or future, relating to loss or damage of any nature — special, punitive, or exemplary — including but not limited to economic loss or physical or material damage resulting from negligence, or any violation or usurpation of any right, title, or intellectual property interest resulting or that may result from the content, text, photographs, or products or services mentioned in this work.

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We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund (CBF) for our publishing activities. Government of Québec – Tax credit program for book publishing – SODEC

Table of Contents UNIT 1

WANDERLUST

Where Will Your Life Take You?

The impact travel has on individuals and society .......................................................................................

1

WARM-UP

Which Road Will You Take? .........................................................................

2

VOCABULARY FOR

Travel...............................................................................................................

3

PRONUNCIATION

Regular Verb Endings -s and -ed ................................................................

4

WATCHING

One Couch at a Time ....................................................................................

5

READING FOR STRATEGY AND INTERACTION

Living in the Arctic Has Taught Me about Community ............................

7

What Am I Doing Here? ................................................................................

9

LITERARY DEVICE

Personication............................................................................................... 12

IDIOMS

Travel .............................................................................................................. 14

WATCHING

Mars One Way ............................................................................................... 15

SPEAKING

Mars One Radio Interview ........................................................................... 17

TOPIC FILES

Topics • Make the Connection • Top Words ........................................... 18

UNIT 2

CONNECTIONS

How Do You Connect to Your World?

Factors that influence our social behaviours ..............................................................................................

19

WARM-UP

How Do You Connect? ................................................................................. 20

READING FOR INTERACTION

The Curse of the Herd .................................................................................. 21

SPEAKING

Who Are You? ............................................................................................... 24

LITERARY DEVICE

Simile ............................................................................................................. 24

PRONUNCIATION

Word Stress ................................................................................................... 26

LISTENING

Riding the Herd Mentality ........................................................................... 26

IDIOMS

Social Norms ................................................................................................. 28

SPEAKING

Are We Alone Together? .............................................................................. 29

READING FOR STRATEGY

The Flight from Conversation ..................................................................... 30

WATCHING

The Real Dirt on Gossip ............................................................................... 35

VOCABULARY FOR

Gossip and Communication ........................................................................ 37

TOPIC FILES

Topics • Make the Connection • Top Words ........................................... 38

UNIT 3

MORALITY

Can We Tell Right from Wrong?

The impact our moral compass has on the ethical decisions we make .......................................................

39

WARM-UP

Take an Ethical Quiz ...................................................................................... 40

READING FOR CHALLENGE

The Moral Decline in the Words We Use ................................................... 41

WATCHING

Are We Born Moral? ..................................................................................... 45

PRONUNCIATION

Silent Letters ................................................................................................. 47

READING FOR INTERACTION

Rumpelstiltskin ............................................................................................. 47

LITERARY DEVICE

Symbolism .................................................................................................... 50

IDIOMS

Honesty .......................................................................................................... 51

LISTENING

The (Honest) Truth about Dishonesty ........................................................ 52

SPEAKING

Lie Detector ................................................................................................... 54

READING FOR STRATEGY

What Science Tells Us about Whistleblowers like Edward Snowden .... 54

TOPIC FILES

Topics • Make the Connection • Top Words............................................ 58

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1

19

39

Table of Contents

iii

59

81

UNIT 4

SOCIAL ACTIVISM

Are You an Activist?

How we can make a difference in the world ...............................................................................................

59

WARM-UP

What Is Social Activism? ............................................................................. 60

VOCABULARY FOR

Activism ......................................................................................................... 61

READING FOR STRATEGY AND INTERACTION

Small Change ................................................................................................ 62

LITERARY DEVICE

Flashbacks ..................................................................................................... 66

SPEAKING

A Debate on Social Activism ....................................................................... 67

IDIOMS

Activism and Social Change ....................................................................... 68

LISTENING

Sustainable Joes .......................................................................................... 69

PRONUNCIATION

Sentence Stress/Intonation ........................................................................ 71

READING FOR CHALLENGE

My Year of Living without Money .............................................................. 72

WATCHING

Music and Activism around the Globe ....................................................... 77

SPEAKING

Music to Die For ............................................................................................ 79

TOPIC FILES

Topics • Make the Connection • Top Words............................................ 80

UNIT 5

PERSPECTIVES

What’s Behind Your Story?

Lessons we learn from the stories of others ...............................................................................................

81

What is a Picture Worth? ............................................................................. 82

WARM-UP VOCABULARY FOR

Storytelling .................................................................................................... 83

READING FOR INTERACTION

Can Science Explain Why We Tell Stories? ............................................... 84

LITERARY DEVICE

Metaphor ....................................................................................................... 86

IDIOMS

Storytelling .................................................................................................... 88

LISTENING

The Moth Storytelling .................................................................................. 89

READING FOR STRATEGY

This Is a Photograph of Me ......................................................................... 94 Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota ...................................................................................................... 94

LITERARY DEVICE

Imagery .......................................................................................................... 95

READING FOR CHALLENGE

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan ................................................................ 96

WATCHING

Twelve ............................................................................................................ 101

PRONUNCIATION

Reductions and Contractions in Speech ................................................... 104

SPEAKING

Tell Your Story .............................................................................................. 105

TOPIC FILES

Topics • Make the Connection • Top Words ........................................... 106

UNIT 6

Do You Think Before You Act?

CONTEMPLATION

What our questions reveal about our values and human nature ................................................................ 107

107 iv

Table of Contents

WARM-UP

To Be or Not To Be, Is That the Question? ................................................. 108

READING FOR INTERACTION

The Questions That Have No Answers ...................................................... 109

WATCHING

The Oil Sands Art Exhibit ............................................................................ 112

IDIOMS

Contemplation ............................................................................................... 114

SPEAKING

Where Is It Made? ......................................................................................... 115

WATCHING

The China Question ...................................................................................... 116

PRONUNCIATION

Question Intonation ..................................................................................... 119

READING FOR STRATEGY AND CHALLENGE

Harrison Bergeron ........................................................................................ 120

LITERARY DEVICE

Irony ............................................................................................................... 125 Reproduction prohibited © TC Media Books Inc.

SPEAKING

Ranting ........................................................................................................... 126

VOCABULARY FOR

Contemplation .............................................................................................. 127

TOPIC FILES

Topics • Make the Connection • Top Words ........................................... 128

WRITING FILES 1

The Essay What is an essay? 129 • How do I structure an essay? 129 • Generating Ideas 130 • The Introduction 132 • The Thesis Statement 132 • The Body Paragraphs 134 • Thesis Statement and Topic Sentences 134 • Supporting Ideas 135 • The Conclusion 136 • The Essay Outline 137 • Revising and Editing 138

WRITING FILES 2

Improving Your Essay Revising for Unity and Cohesion 140 • Transition Words 141 • Revising for Vocabulary and Word Choice 144 • Informal vs. Standard English 144 • False Cognates 145 • Commonly Confused Words 146 • Using a Thesaurus 146

WRITING FILES 3

Essay Types Compare Four Main Essay Types 147 • Special Characteristics of Thesis Statements for Different Essay Types 150

WRITING FILES 4

The Response Essay Features of the Response Essay 151 • Decide Which Elements to Cover 152 • Create a Thesis Statement 152 • Structure the Response Essay 152

ANTHOLOGY

MOVIE REVIEW “Mommy’s Success Gives Xavier Dolan Direction” by Brendan Kelly 154

153

SONG LYRICS “Escarpment Blues” by Sarah Harmer 157 POEM “Saskatoon Bus Depot: 8 a.m. Sunday” by Lesley Choyce 159 SHORT STORY “Girl Who Loved Her Horses” by Drew Hayden Taylor 161 NEWS ARTICLE (EDITORIAL) “One Student’s Story of Survival Against All Odds” by Nancy Macdonald 167 PLAY Fault Lines: Faroe Islands—“Dara” (Excerpt) by Nicolas Billon 171

APPENDIX 1

How to Do Research...................................................................................... 176

APPENDIX 2

How to Plan and Deliver an Oral Presentation .......................................... 179

CREDITS

Text, Audio, and Video Sources ................................................................. 180 Photo Sources ............................................................................................... 181

REVISING AND EDITING CHECKLISTS ................................................................................................................... 182

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Table of Contents

v

Scope and Sequence READING

UNIT 1 Wanderlust

LISTENING / WATCHING

SPEAKING

WRITING

• Interview a partner about life choices • Describe a person who helped you make an important life decision • Discuss your opinion on couchsurng and the sharing economy • Ask questions about your partner’s text and share information (jigsaw) • Create a dialogue using idioms and proverbs • Role-play a radio interview

• Write a story or narrative essay about an adventure that had a lasting effect on you

• Listen to an interview with an author and researcher on pro-social behaviour • Watch a documentary about gossip

• Interview a partner to nd out how they connect with others • Discuss questions about social behaviour with a partner and predict the results • Discuss the meaning of a poem with a partner • Interview a partner using idioms for social behaviour • Discuss preferred communication methods for various situations • Quiz a partner about gossip and predict the results

• Write a poem about conforming to or rebelling against social norms • Write an opinion essay on the pros or cons of social media

• Watch a news report about scientic studies with babies on the origins of morality • Listen to a researcher in behavioural economics and best-selling author explain the causes and effects of dishonesty

• Take a quiz on how you respond to moral dilemmas and discuss the results • Discuss the moral messages of a fairy tale • Create a short dialogue using idioms about honesty • Play the lie detector game

• Write your own fairy tale or change, update, and modernize your favourite fairy tale • Write a summary of an article

• Take a quiz on social activism throughout history and discuss the changes the protests or movements made • Debate the pros and cons of social activism • Discuss with a partner how you could make a difference in the world using idioms • Discuss the reality of living off-grid • Present a song associated with social activism

• Write about a protest or social activist movement • Write an argument essay on social change and activism • Write a refutation paragraph

• Listen to an interview about the benets of storytelling • Listen to a narrative story • Watch a National Film Board video of a lmmaker who interviews immigrants like himself for their perspective

• Guess then discuss the stories behind famous photos • Tell stories and make observations on the qualities of stories • Discuss what makes a good story • Identify literal vs. gurative language • Tell a personal and narrative story

• Write a compare and contrast essay • Use transition words to compare and contrast

• Watch a news report about art as a catalyst for change • Watch a documentary that examines the effects of purchasing imported products on our economy

• Discuss philosophical questions and practise embedded questions • Contemplate important paradoxes and challenge common beliefs • Discuss the relationship between your purchases and your values as a group • Play jeopardy to practise intonation • Prepare a short rant on a thoughtprovoking topic

• Rewrite the ending to a short story • Write a short story plot summary • Write a persuasive essay on a thought-provoking topic

• Read a poem and discuss its meaning • Watch a documentary for main ideas and details • Read two narrative essays, guess the meaning from context, and nd the • Watch a documentary and take notes descriptive language Literary Device: Personication

UNIT 2 Connections

• Read an article on social behaviour after predicting the results • Read and interpret a poem • Read an opinion text and nd the main idea and author’s purpose Literary Device: Simile

UNIT 3 Morality

• Read an article about our moral language for vocabulary building • Read a fairy tale and discuss moral messages • Skim, scan, and summarize a magazine article Literary Device: Symbolism Denotation and Connotation

UNIT 4 Social Activism

• Read a blog to identify author bias • Listen to an interview about two young activists who live off-grid to change • Read an article about a man who lives the world without money and consumerism • Watch an interview about music and • Read the lyrics to a song about activism around the globe activism Literary Device: Flashbacks

UNIT 5 Perspectives

• Read an article about scientic studies on why we tell stories to identify the elements of a good story • Read and compare two startling poems using visualization strategies for comprehension • Read an excerpt from a novel about a woman who reects on her childhood, and identify setting Literary Device: Metaphor Imagery

UNIT 6 Contemplation

• Read a philosophical essay and predict the author’s hypothesis • Read a short story to recognize tone Literary Device: Irony

vi

WRITING FILES 1

The Essay • What is an essay? • How do I structure an essay? • Generating ideas • The introduction • The thesis statement • The body par agraphs

WRITING FILES 2

Improving Your Essay • Revising for unity and cohesion • Transition words • Revising for vocabulary and word choice • Informal vs. standard English

WRITING FILES 3

Essay Types • Compare four main essay types • Special characteristics of thesis statements for different essay types

WRITING FILES 4

The Response Essay • Features of the response essay • Decide which elements to cover • Create a thesis statement • Structure the response essay

ANTHOLOGY

MOVIE REVIEW: “Mommy’s Success Gives Xavier Dolan Direction” by Brendan Kelly • SONG LYRICS: “Escarpment Blues” by Sarah Harmer NEWS ARTICLE (EDITORIAL): “One Student’s Story of Survival Against All Odds” by Nancy Macdonald • PLAY: Fault Lines: Faroe Islands—“Dara” (Excerpt) by Nicolas Billon

Scope and Sequence

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GRAMMAR

PRONUNCIATION

VOCABULARY AND IDIOMS

TOPIC FILES

• Present, past, and future

• Regular verb endings -s and -ed

• Commonly confused travel vocabulary • Words, expressions, and idioms related to travel • Dene words from context

• Write a text or give an oral presentation on a topic related to travel and life choices (the road less travelled; the sharing economy; travel lessons; and travel adventures)

• Present perfect • Phrasal verbs

• Word stress

• Gossip and communication vocabulary • Words, expressions, and idioms related to social behaviour and norms • Vocabulary related to groups of animals • Phrasal verbs

• Write a text or give an oral presentation on a topic related to social connections (the herd mentality; peer pressure; gossip; technology; and family expectations)

• Past tenses (simple past, past progressive, and past perfect)

• Silent letters

• Afxes • Words related to moral excellence and virtue • Complete a crossword puzzle with words found based on denitions • Brainstorm synonyms and antonyms of ethical • Dene words from context • Words, expressions, and idioms related to morality and honesty • Vocabulary for whistleblowing

• Write a text or give an oral presentation on a topic related to morality and ethics (moral decline; origins of morality; fairy tales; dishonesty; and whistleblowers)

• Present and past modals

• Sentence stress and intonation

• Write a text or give an oral presentation on a topic related • Commonly confused vocabulary related to activism and social change (activism across generations; to activism social media activism; personal experiences with living • Words, expressions, and idioms related to off-grid, without electricity, or in a cashless society; and activism and social change consumerism) • Find words in context based on denitions

• Comparatives and superlatives • Historic present • Conditionals

• Reductions and contractions in speech

• Commonly confused vocabulary related to • Write a text or give an oral presentation on a topic related to storytelling and speaking storytelling (peer-write a story’s beginning, middle, and end; write about literature which inspired you; write a letter to • Adjectives describing stories your future or past self; contrast a movie and a book telling • Find words in context based on denitions the same story; or present a Native American legend) • Words, expressions, and idioms related to stories and storytelling

• Question formation • Embedded questions

• Question intonation

• Words, expressions, and idioms related to questions, contemplation, and consumption • Guess the meaning of words from context

• Write a text or give an oral presentation on a topic related to contemplation (our ability to ask difcult questions; art as a catalyst for change; moral issues involved in purchasing imported products; and the desirability of social equality)

• Thesis statement and topic sentences • Supporting ideas • The conclusion • The essay outline • Revising and editing • False cognates • Commonly confused words • Using a thesaurus

• POEM: “Saskatoon Bus Depot: 8 a.m. Sunday” by Lesley Choyce • SHORT STORY: “Girl Who Loved Her Horses” by Drew Hayden Taylor

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Scope and Sequence

vii

Features In this second edition of REAL Skills Book 3, you will nd the many features that made the rst edition such a success along with valuable improvements and additions. The magazine-style integrated approach has been given a modern makeover to suit the language needs of today’s high-intermediate to advanced students of English as a second language. New and updated themes offer student-centred activities and explore relevant issues and topics.

Overall Structure Six theme-based units are designed to pique your interest while building language skills. There are also four step-by-step Writing Files to help you write effective paragraphs and essays. They have been regrouped to offer one period of class time. The book concludes with useful appendices to help you with your written and oral assignments.

Skills

Reading, Listening, and Watching Level-appropriate texts, videos, and audio material have been updated and come from a variety of authentic sources. You will read a large selection of text types, including a short story and poetry, listen to interviews and reports, and watch high-interest documentaries and short lms.

New targeted reading practice Reading for Strategy allows you to practise a specic reading strategy to improve your reading skills. Reading for Interaction encourages pair reading or structured discussion in class.

Reading for Challenge offers you a more challenging or longer text.

New targeted grammar focus Focus on Language is a new section that gives you the opportunity to focus on specic aspects of grammar that you see or hear in context.

viii

FEATURES

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Speaking and Writing Engaging warm-up activities, such as surveys, quizzes, and interview scenarios, open each unit to get you thinking about and discussing the new theme.

Speaking activities offer real contexts and range from guided discussions and topical debates to formal presentations.

FYI (For Your Information) provides interesting facts or tips related to the theme.

Numerous writing and discussion boxes throughout the unit give you opportunities to react to various topics.

Literary Device explains and applies a literary device in context.

Writing Files Topic Files The new Topic Files section concludes each unit. It offers accessible writing and oral presentation topics to encourage you to explore the theme further. These activities reinforce the unit’s featured language elements, which are listed in Make the Connection.

Newly expanded, each of the four Writing Files takes you step-by-step through the writing process, and provides models, examples, and hands-on practice of the writing theory, including revising and editing exercises. The features of a response essay and of four other essay types are compared, including thesis statements.

Top Words lists high-frequency vocabulary featured in the unit to help you to focus on these words and integrate them in your own speaking and writing.

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FEATURES

ix

Language Elements Grammar Link gives you language and grammar tools to help you do the required tasks.

How To focuses on useful reading, listening, speaking, and writing strategies and now offers more explanations, examples, and concrete practice. Cross-references indicate where to nd more detailed information or practice.

The Anthology is now integrated in the Skills Book to facilitate use in the classroom. It exposes students to various types of reading material, written by Canadian authors, and reviews the features of each text type.

Between the Lines has students think critically about the texts they have read. A variety of exercises helps you acquire new vocabulary carefully selected according to frequency and usefulness.

Sections on Idioms and Vocabulary help you learn common themerelated words and expressions and put them into practice.

Pronunciation targets common difculties and helps you become a more uent speaker through guided practice. The online pronunciation exercises provide automatic feedback.

Clear and integrated web links indicate when to consult the interactive activities online. A COMPREHENSIVE DIGITAL SOLUTION

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• • • •

An interactive eBook for teachers and students that teachers can personalize based on classroom needs

• • • •

Creation and customization of interactive online activities by teachers

Answer keys and notes embedded in the teacher’s eBook with display/hide features Additional questions on material in the book as well as new material, to be used for homework, in the lab, or for evaluation Interactive activities with automatic correction features that give students immediate feedback to help better assess understanding and to monitor progress Vocabulary exercises and quizzes to improve vocabulary use and retention Access to the CD and DVD content that can be played directly from the platform Teacher tools such as transcripts, answer keys, evaluation material, and grids

FEATURES

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Wanderlust Wanderlust

1 Wanderlust Wanderlust Wanderlust WANDERLUST

UNIT

Wanderlust Wanderlust

Where Will Your Life Take You?

The impact travel has on individuals and society

Do you have wanderlust or the strong desire to travel and explore the world? Would you be willing to “share” your way around the globe? What does travel teach us and why are so many of us doing it? Have you ever considered Mars as a travel destination? In this unit, you will learn about the roads less travelled.

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THE SKY’S THE LIMIT Where Will Your Life Take You?

WARM-UP

Which Road Will You Take?

Do you believe that your life path is predetermined by fate or destiny or do you think that the decisions you make determine the life you lead?

Read this famous poem by Robert Frost. Discuss the meaning of the poem with a partner using the questions in the chart below. Write your answers in the chart.

The Road Not Taken diverged (v.) branched into separate directions trodden (v.)

walked on

undergrowth (n.)

vegetation

fair (adj.)

attractive

sigh (n.)

audible breath

hence (adv.)

5

from this time; later 10

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveller, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim Because it was grassy and wanted wear, Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same,

Question

By Robert Frost

15

And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the rst for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way I doubted if I should ever come back.

20

I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less travelled by, And that has made all the difference.

What You and Your Partner Think

1. What is the speaker in the poem doing?

2. What does the speaker encounter?

3. What decision does the speaker have to make? 4. Infer the season. How do you know?

5. Describe the conict the speaker feels.

6. What do you think Frost’s message is to the reader? Do you agree with this message?

2

UNIT 1

Wanderlust

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Interview a classmate to nd out more about his or her life path. Use the questions in the chart to help prompt you. Then answer your classmate’s questions using the suggested verb tense.

Interview Question

Verb Tense

1. Describe two important decisions you’ve made in your life.

Simple past

2. Why did you choose that path?

Simple past

3. What do these decisions say about who you are?

4. Where do you hope these life decisions will lead you in the future?

Partner’s Answer

Grammar Link PRESENT, PAST, AND FUTURE Use the simple present to describe permanent situations in the present, such as habitual actions, facts, and truths.

Simple present

Simple future

Vocabulary for Travel To speak or write about your travels, make sure to review these commonly confused words.

My decision to participate in the humanitarian trip to Peru shows that I am an adventurous person. Use the simple past to describe completed past actions. Pay attention to irregular verbs. I chose to go to Peru because I wanted to help the orphans have a better life. I learned a lot. Use the simple future to describe actions in the immediate, near, or distant future. My decision to study political science at college will lead me to a career as a politician. I am going to work hard to reach my goals. Refer to REAL 3 Grammar Reference and Practice, unit 1, and to appendix 6, on page 136 for a list of irregular verbs.

Travel refers to going from one place to another, especially abroad. Travel is a form of education. I travelled to Europe. (I made a travel to Europe.) Voyage refers to a long journey by sea or in space. Before the twentieth century, long sea voyages were common. In 1954, my family voyaged across the ocean to start a new life in Canada. Journey refers to going from one place to another, especially a long distance. The bus journey to New York was long and tiring. Next time I’ll journey by train. A trip (n.) is a relatively short journey for a purpose, such as business or pleasure. For spring break, my friends and I are going on a trip to Cuba. Be careful: to trip means to fall down. I tripped over my shoelaces.

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Vocabulary for travel can be practised online.

Where Will Your Life Take You?

3

Refer to REAL 3 Grammar Reference and Practice, unit 1.

Pronunciation Regular Verb Endings -s and -ed The regular verb endings -s and -ed are very important to pronounce correctly in order to avoid misunderstanding. The third-person-singular -s ending in the simple present can be pronounced in three different ways: /s/ as in surfs

/z/ as in plays

/iz/ as in watches (The /iz/ sound is pronounced as an extra syllable.)

The -ed ending in the simple past can be pronounced in three different ways: /t/ as in liked

/d/ as in learned

/id/ as in wanted (The /id/ sound is pronounced as an extra syllable.)

Listen to each verb and repeat it after the speaker. Then write the verb in the appropriate column according to the pronunciation of the -s or -ed ending.

/s/

/z/

/iz/

/t/

/d/

/id/

Discussion Form small groups. Take turns describing a person in your life who helped you make an important life decision. • Begin by describing the person. Use at least four regular verbs in the simple present third-person singular. The person that I would like to describe to you is my mother. She loves to travel and laughs a lot. • Then describe an important decision this person helped you make. Use at least three regular verbs in the simple past. My mother encouraged me to participate in a humanitarian trip to Peru. • Be careful to pronounce the -s and -ed endings correctly. Designate a group member to write down the verbs you use and to comment on your pronunciation when you nish.

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One Couch at a Time

WATCHING

Do you have a desire to take the road less travelled? What’s it like to “share” your way around the world? This documentary by Alexandra Liss presents her couchsurng adventures in this emerging “age of sharing.”

Vocabulary Circle the correct denition of each word and expression before you watch the video. 1. a hostel (n.)

a. a large spacious hotel

b. an inexpensive shared

lodging for travellers 2. to overcome (v.)

a. to ght against someone

b. to make it through a difculty

3. a ripple effect (exp.)

a. a series of consequences caused by a single action

b. a benet or reward

4. to fund (v.)

a. to locate

b. to nance or allocate money

5. a mecca (n.)

a. a place that attracts many visitors

b. a famous person

6. crowd funding (exp.)

a. raising money by getting donations through social media

b. spending a lot of money; incurring debt

7. to host (v.)

a. to welcome a guest at one’s home

b. to carry or uplift

8. anomaly (n.)

a. a normal occurrence

b. something unusual

9. to pay it forward (exp.)

a. to commit a random act of kindness that will be repaid one day

b. to pay a bill in advance

a. a belief in something uncertain

b. a jump toward your destiny

10. a leap of faith (exp.)

Couchsurng is a free social network that connects travellers with hosts around the world. The guests stay for free on the host’s “couch,” hence “couchsurng.” It was co-founded by Casey Fenton in 1999 and now has over 100 000 members in more than 230 countries.

Comprehension Part 1: Introduction

Watch the introduction to the couchsurng documentary and answer these questions. 1. How do people react to the idea of couchsurng? Check all the comments you hear. It’s ridiculous.

You might get lost.

You could get robbed.

A lot of things can go wrong.

The person could be an axe murderer.

You could end up in a foreign prison.

The person could cancel plans.

Someone could kidnap you.

If you stayed at home, you could miss the opportunity to expand yourself.

2. How does Casey Fenton describe couchsurng? Is it dangerous?

3. How did Alexandra fund her lm? How does she determine her couchsurng destinations?

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Part 2: Couchsurng Experiences

Read the questions in the chart. Then watch Alexandra couchsurf with Zohra in Bangkok and Siso in South Africa and write your answers.

Question

Bangkok Adventure

South African Adventure

1. Where did Alexandra stay? Describe the host.

2. What did Alexandra learn about the host’s culture?

3. What tips or comments are given about couchsurng?

Part 3: Conclusion

Watch the conclusion of the documentary. Summarize in your own words what Alexandra concludes about couchsurng and how it relates to a sharing lifestyle.

Between the Lines Alexandra raises interesting questions and makes thoughtful suggestions about how we should live our lives. Discuss these questions with a partner. Do you agree or disagree with her ideas?

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1.

Couchsurng allows you to have a “deeper, meaningful experience every day.”

2.

What would a world be like if everyone couchsurfed?

3.

Sharing and social currency are “subsidizing” money.

4.

When you are willing to share with a stranger, you forge deep connections and the stranger no longer seems strange.

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READING

FOR STRATEGY AND INTERACTION • GUESS MEANING FROM CONTEXT

How To GUESS MEANING FROM CONTEXT

Travel can allow us to learn about other cultures, languages, or ways of life. But what can travel teach us about ourselves? The following narrative essays describe the personal lessons learned from travelling.

Find a partner and decide who will read article 1 (“Living in the Arctic Has Taught Me about Community”) and who will read article 2 (“What Am I Doing Here?”). 1. Before you read, write a short denition on the line next to each word or expression in bold in the articles on pages 7–10. Apply the reading strategy below to guess meaning from context. 2. Read the article you chose and complete the chart on pages 10–11 with information in point form. Then exchange information with a classmate and write your partner’s information in the chart. 3. Complete the Discussion and Writing questions and the Focus on Descriptive Writing section on page 12 with your partner. Article 1

Living in the Arctic Has Taught Me about Community

Before reaching for a dictionary, try to guess the meaning of new words and expressions based on the context. When you come across an unknown word, make sure you: 1. Understand the part of speech. Knowing the function of the word (noun, verb, adjective, adverb) will help you guess its meaning. 2. Analyze the word. Can you identify its root? Is there a prex or sufx that makes the word negative? 3. Read the words and sentences that appear before and after the word. You will nd context clues to help you guess the meaning of the word.

By Deborah Tobin

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y hands are curled up in mittens that were advertised as suitable for extreme temperatures, but aren’t up to the job. Ahead of me, I can just barely make out 1 the lights of the community centre through the tiny eyeholes in my balaclava. I try to hurry up the steps, but I’m slowed down by the bulk of snow pants and long coat. Although it’s 9 a.m., it’s dark outside in this small Nunavut hamlet. It has been dark for more than three months now, as the Arctic feels the full impact of the Earth’s seasonal tilt away from the sun. It’s dark and it’s cold—below –50°C, but that’s just a number. This far above the Arctic Circle, once the temperature drops below –30°C, numbers lose meaning. I’m a teacher, lured 2 here by the promise of adventure and compelling work, looking to set the tone for the next part of my life. During the dark season, I move between small islands of light and companionship: my house, the school, the bustling Northern Store. The darkness is an intimate journey that I share with the others in this otherworldly 3, distant place. Outside, we move quickly from one building to another, anonymous in our winter clothes. We nod or wave to people, but it’s too cold to stop and chat. I open the door to the community centre and free my face and head from the layers that have frozen together from the moisture of my breath. With the innite, perilous tundra at my back, I’m welcomed into the warmth. The room smells of coffee and sealskin boots and is lled with the usual bustle 4 and good humour of an Inuit gathering. A group of women of all ages chatter 5 and laugh as they settle around a large table. Seated at the head of the table is a woman sent from Ottawa to introduce some new government scheme, conceived from afar, to improve the lives of the Inuit. She follows the many southerners whose footsteps can be traced back to explorers, whalers and missionaries. The Inuit call them Qallunaat, which originally meant “man with large stomach” but has come to mean “other.”

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1. 2. 3.

4. 5.

balaclava (n.) warm hat that covers the head and face hamlet (n.)

small village

tundra (n.) at land in Arctic regions where there are no trees gathering (n.) meeting of a group of people

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The Qallunaat have come and gone from the Arctic for hundreds of years. The Inuit have lived here for thousands and their seemingly limitless tolerance for us and our plans to x them might well be rooted in their knowledge that the one thing you can count on with the Qallunaat is that they will always leave. I am the only other Qallunaat in the room. I’m there to represent the school. As I smile and greet the women, I see that the government lady has passed out 6 thick binders full of English words that I know few in the room will be able to read. Very little English is understood or spoken here. Also at the table is an Inuit man whose job is to translate the proceedings into Inuktitut, the local language. It is Day 1 of a four-day workshop and the government woman speaks quickly about mandates and reporting schedules and the work that she needs to accomplish. The Inuit man’s face shows the effort of nding the right Inuktitut words for concepts that are culturally foreign to him. It’s painful 7 to watch. A half-hour in, the translator quietly removes his headset, places it softly on the table and folds his arms in front of him. To me, the gesture says, “This is not worth translating.”The Inuit use words economically and become impatient with those who spend them unwisely 8. The government lady looks at me with panic in her eyes. When I made the decision to take this job after responding to an ad in the newspaper, I told myself that I would try it out for ten months—one school year. Halfway through, I was surprised that I had learned far more than I had taught. Over and over again, I have been the recipient of the generosity of my Inuit neighbours who have helped me learn how I can, like them, live here with humour, patience and strength. Sometimes generosity takes the form of a knock on my door and the tip, delivered in broken English and gestures that I shouldn’t go outside because there is a polar bear behind my house. Almost daily, it takes the form of a pulling up and its driver gesturing for me to hop on the back for a ride to school. The women at the table smile encouragement at the government lady and look pointedly at me. As my mind turns to ways of making the situation work, some of the women let out little yelps and squeals and start laughing and pointing. The government lady looks alarmed. The Inuit women rise from the table and scramble o 9 into the next room. I get up to follow and nd them gathered around a window, pressing against each other to get closer. Neon pink light spills in the window and over them, dressing them in joy. One of the women pulls me into the group, toward the window. A gigantic, ery-red ball pulsates on the horizon, so bright I am forced to close my eyes for a moment. It feels close enough to touch. The long polar night that begins in November and lasts nearly three months is ending. But this is not the sun I have known all my life—this is a stranger to me. After its long absence, it bursts triumphantly above the horizon in a shocking pronouncement of ownership. All that light and warmth are reected back to me in the faces of the women who are visibly proud of this High Arctic gift. I am rocked by a jolt of joy and gratitude so intense that it takes my breath away. “Wink 10 at the sun for good luck,” they urge me. I want the world to stand still. I am exactly where I am supposed to be. I wink and turn back toward the meeting room. I’ll go invite the government lady to wink at the sun. She could probably use a little luck— and a little help. 1033 words

Read “I Ran Away and Joined the Circus—in Mexico” online for Cat Rainsford’s account of living with Mexican street performers for two years.

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Article 2

What Am I Doing Here?

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By Andrew McCarthy National Geographic Traveler

he earth was dry and hard, the wheat in the eld around me low and sickly. A midday sun bore down from an empty sky. And I was on my knees. Sobbing. In the middle of northern Spain, halfway through a five-hundred-mile walk along the Camino de Santiago (Way of Saint James) to the pilgrimage town of Santiago de Compostela, I was exhausted, tapped out 1, reduced to a weeping mess. I literally shook my fists at the heavens and cursed whatever God it was I half-believed in. This was far from the triumphant march 2 across the Iberian Peninsula I had intended. But I wasn’t just railing 3 against the walk, though it had been a miserable few weeks of blisters, bad beds, and loneliness; I was despairing that I simply wasn’t up to all that was required of me. Unwittingly, I had attached metaphorical signicance to my trudge 4 : It had grown to represent the journey of my life so far. On this parched ground under a blistering sun, the symbolism I read into my present condition was not good. I seemed to lack some innate quality the journey demanded—something others obviously possessed. How could I have come so far only to end up like this? Slowly I sat back on my heels, my tears subsided, my breathing slowed. Alone in a eld of withering 5 heat that stretched to the horizon, I grew embarrassed. The space between my shoulder blades felt exposed and vulnerable. I rehoisted my backpack, picked up my walking stick and shued 6 on. At the next village, a dusty town named Castrojeriz, I found a room above a bar and fell into a heavy sleep. The following morning I set out 7 again. The air had a softness the day would devour, but hadn’t yet. After an hour, I stopped beside an old barn to drink some water—and noticed that my senses seemed unusually acute. The colours around me appeared heightened, more distinct: The umber of the dirt, the burnt red of the barn, the yellow of the tractor in the eld were all more vivid than normal, their edges more sharply dened. I could hear birds call and respond in a way that seemed almost conversational. I grew conscious of my breathing, slow and rhythmic. And in a moment of clarity that I’d done nothing consciously to summon, I became aware of something I had in some way known all my life. There wasn’t something lacking in my character; I had an overabundance of something. It had dictated so many of my actions, been behind so many decisions and obscured so much of my judgment. Fear, I saw in that moment, had ruled my life. It was in this experience of fear’s absence that it began to lose its hold on me. Fear is a peculiar thing, and a powerful one. We can convince ourselves that our decisions and actions are prudent, or wise, or even insightful 8, when it’s closer to the truth to say they’re motivated by fear. In my home life I nd it fairly easy to stay within a carefully constructed comfort zone—a zone often designed to accommodate and soothe certain fears. But this isn’t possible when I’m in some distant locale and need to nd a bed for the night. That it took a meltdown in the middle of Spain for me to see the cunning hand of my fear for the rst time goes a long way toward demonstrating the grip the emotion had on me. After my experience outside Castrojeriz I made a decision to travel more—often alone— to put myself in situations that drew me far from the familiar. Something had happened to me by the side of that barn, and I wanted more of it. So I went to Southeast Asia—and on arrival in Singapore, found fear waiting for me in my hotel until I forced myself to go to the lobby, and then to walk around the block. There I spotted 9 a subway station that reminded me of the subway back home, and descended the steps. An old man was offering to take photos for ID cards. He had few teeth and thin, wispy hair. When he saw me, he began to speak. He told me that he was 85 years old, that his wife had died in 1979, and that he had been baptized a year earlier and taken the name David. He showed me a book full of pictures of people who had blinked when he photographed them.

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1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

7. 8. 9. bore down (exp.) pilgrimage (n.) place

pressed down journey to a holy

parched (adj.)

extremely dry

rehoisted (v.)

lifted up again

umber (adj.) colour

locale (n.)

reddish brown

place, setting

cunning (adj.)

deceptive

Where Will Your Life Take You?

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10.

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11.

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psyche (n.)

mental state 65

The Camino de Santiago (Way of Saint James) was one of the most popular Christian pilgrimage routes in Europe during the medieval ages. The route became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987 and is popular today for travellers looking for a challenge or personal growth. Those who complete the walk are given a compostela or certicate for their emotional and physical hardship.

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“But you, no blink,” he coached me. I did as I was told, and still have the photo of a slightly dazed, jet-lagged 10 face with wide-open eyes. It was a minor interaction—but an indelible experience of connection, one that led to others and showed me there was a way out of my insular shyness. It led to a habit of reaching out, especially when I felt most isolated. I travelled to Africa without a plan. I learned to not be afraid of loneliness on that trip; the feeling came and went, teaching me to be my own best company. I’ve rarely been lonely—and never feared it—since. Yet fear can seep in 11 in other ways. Not long ago I was scheduled to y to Sudan, to see how people lived after being confronted with so much hardship for so long. When I mentioned the trip, people looked at me with shock. Why would I want to go to Sudan, they asked. The well-documented atrocities and political troubles taking place there were cited as proof of my poor judgment. But travel for me has always been about something other than vacation (an hour on a beach, and I wonder what’s next). Still, the doubts and uninformed worries I’d heard began to penetrate my psyche. As my departure date drew near, I became increasingly anxious. By the time I was in the airport, I was making bargains with myself. “If the plane is delayed,” I said silently, “I’ll take it as a sign from the universe, and not go.” I stared at the departure monitor, growing more and more uncomfortable as I waited for my fate to be decided. Then a small child sat down beside me, eager to board the plane—and I laughed at my runaway fear. I spent two weeks travelling in Khartoum and through Sudan’s desert, where I met some of the most gentle, welcoming people I’ve ever encountered. It’s through travel that I’ve stared my fear in the face, revealing it for the phantom it is. Now, on the road, I’m a better version of myself, less defensive, more open, and more curious. The person I bring home is closer to the one I want to be. My journey away from fear has taken me around the world. An accidental moment under a hot sun in rural northern Spain cracked me open, offering me a glimpse of how to live a different life from the one that had been leading me. Nothing has been the same since. 1155 words

Complete the chart with information about the article you read. Then take turns sharing information with your partner to complete the chart.

Article 1 Living in the Arctic

Article 2 What Am I Doing Here?

1. Places journeyed to

2. Reason for the journey

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3. Initial feelings

4. People they met along the way who taught them something

5. Turning point in the story that changes the author’s attitude

6. What the author ultimately learns

7. How the author changes

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L iterary Device PERSONIFICATION Authors use a literary device called personication to attribute human qualities to an animal, inanimate object or an abstract concept. Personication can make descriptions of non-human elements more vivid, or can help readers understand, sympathize with, or react emotionally to nonhuman characters. For example: Neon pink light spills in the window and over them, dressing them in joy (article 1, line 58). Here, the light dresses (something only a human can do) its audience in joy. Read “Escarpment Blues” and “Saskatoon Bus Depot: 8 a.m. Sunday” in the Anthology section on page 157 and 159 for more practice.

Discussion and Writing 1. Who learned the most valuable life lesson, in your opinion? Support your answer. 2. Which adventure would you like to do most? Explain your answer. 3. Discuss the meaning of these personications from the article. Use Literary Device: Personication in the margin to help you. • Article 1: Living in the Arctic Has Taught Me about Community “But this is not the sun I have known all my life—this is a stranger to me. After its long absence, it bursts triumphantly above the horizon in a shocking pronouncement of ownership.” (line 62) • Article 2: What Am I Doing Here? “It’s through travel that I’ve stared my fear in the face.” (line 71)

Focus on Descriptive Writing The reader can see, taste, feel, smell, and hear the narrators’ travel adventures in the articles on pages 7–10 because these adventures are described very vividly, using descriptive language. This is a characteristic of effective descriptive writing.

Read the paragraphs indicated for your article (see chart below) to your partner. Then complete the chart together with the descriptive language used by the narrator.

Descriptive Language

Article 1 Living in the Arctic Paragraphs 1 and 4

Article 2 What Am I Doing Here? Paragraphs 1 and 2

1. What do you see?

2. What do you taste?

3. What do you feel?

4. What do you smell?

5. What do you hear?

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Writing Write a story or narrative essay about an adventure that had a lasting effect on you. • Choose a story that allows the reader to learn a lesson or gain insight. • Use descriptive language that appeals to the ve senses so that the reader can experience the adventure. • Tell the story in your own voice using a rst-person narrator.

How To WRITE A THESIS STATEMENT FOR A NARRATIVE ESSAY When writing a narrative essay, begin by asking yourself what you learned from the event, how it was important, or how it affected you. The answer to one of these questions will become your thesis statement. For example: My volunteer trip to Guatemala taught me to be happy with less. When I was a camp monitor, not only did I teach something to children, I learned from them. In article 1, what did the woman who lived in the Arctic for a year learn from her adventure? Thesis statement: I was surprised that I had learned far more than I had taught. (line 45) In article 2, what did the man who made the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage learn? Thesis statement: Fear, I saw in that moment, had ruled my life. (line 31)

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Refer to Writing Files 3, page 147, for information on writing a thesis statement for a narrative essay.

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Idioms Travel Idioms for travel can be practised online.

When in Rome … English is full of idioms, proverbs, and expressions related to travel. Do you know what a red-eye is or why bad news travels fast? Match each idiomatic expression or proverb with its meaning. Write the correct letter in the second column. In the third column, write a sentence using the idiom.

Idiom / Proverb

Sentence

1. to go off the beaten track

f

When travelling in Ecuador last year, I went off the beaten track and explored the remote regions.

2. to cross that bridge when you come to it 3. Now it’s smooth sailing. 4. to travel lightly 5. to hit the road 6. to take a red-eye 7. to live out of a suitcase 8. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. 9. The world is your oyster. 10. Bad news travels fast.

Meaning a. not encountering any problems along the way b. to always be travelling c. to deal with a problem when or if it occurs d. you have the ability and freedom to do anything or go anywhere e. follow the customs and traditions of the place you are visiting

less travelled areas to book an overnight ight to get going or to set out on a journey information about trouble or misfortune circulates quickly j. to take very few possessions on a trip f. g. h. i.

Discussion With a partner, create a dialogue using at least ve of the above expressions. • Choose a scenario and roles for the dialogue. • Pick ve appropriate idioms that t the tone and setting of the dialogue. • Role-play the dialogue with your partner.

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WATCHING

Mars One Way

What if your life journey took you on a one-way trip to Mars? What would you be willing to sacrice to gain this life experience? This documentary follows ve Mars One candidates, as they contemplate what it means to leave planet Earth for a new life on Mars.

Discussion 1. Would you be willing to travel to Mars, knowing you could never return home? Why? 2. What kind of person should be sent on the Mars One mission? List ve attributes in order of importance.

Mars One, an organization based in the Netherlands, plans to establish a human colony on Mars. Over 200 000 candidates applied to participate in the Mars One project and several rounds of selection will determine who will be chosen for the one-way mission. A crew of four is planned to depart every two years starting in 2024.

How To TAKE NOTES WHILE YOU LISTEN Note-taking helps you understand and remember what you hear. • Before you listen, carefully read the instructions and questions to nd out what you need to pay attention to as you listen. • Write only the most important words, ideas, and concepts.

Watch Abandon Ship: The Sinking of the SV Concordia online for an account by the survivors of this harrowing experience.

• Do not attempt to write every single word you hear. • Make sure that your notes are clear, so that you understand them when you read them later on.

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Comprehension Watch the documentary and take notes in the chart about the candidates. Name (in Order of Appearance)

Reasons for Going

Personality or Description

Who or What They’ll Miss

Certainty of Going

1. Cody Reeder, beekeeper

2. Casey Hunter, “normal guy”

3. Will Robbins, works at planetarium

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4. Katelyn “Kitty” Kane, hairstylist

5. Ken Sullivan, father

Discussion 1. In teams, decide which two applicants from the video Mars One should be selected. Which two should not be sent to Mars? Why? Compare your answers with another team and justify your choices. 2. Does it seem that the participants are running from something or to something? Support your answer.

SPEAKING

Mars One Radio Interview

You applied to the Mars One project and you have been chosen to travel to Mars to begin a permanent human establishment. Your local radio station is interviewing you.

Role-play the radio interview with a partner. Use these questions for inspiration or create your own. 1. What is the Mars One project? 2. Why were you chosen from among all the candidates? What is special about you? 3. What will be your main tasks on Mars? 4. How will living on Mars change your life? 5. Who will you miss most of all the people you will leave behind? 6. What will you miss most of all the things you will leave behind? 7. If you were allowed to bring three items from home, what would you choose? 8. Why do you and the other participants want to embark on such an adventure? 9. Do you truly think that life on Mars is sustainable? 10. What is your greatest fear about living on Mars? Reproduction prohibited © TC Media Books Inc.

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Topic Files Write a text or give an oral presentation on one of the following topics. Try to incorporate the elements from the Make the Connection box and use as many of the Top Words as you can.

Make the Connection Grammar Link: Present, past, and future................ 3

1 2

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN: Describe a moment in your life when you took the road less travelled. What happened and why?

3 4

TRAVEL LESSONS: What important life lessons have you learned (or hope to learn) from travelling?

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MARS ONE: Would you be willing to travel to Mars? Why or why not? How would your life change? Do you think the Mars One project will become a reality? Research the Mars One project on the Internet to learn more.

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OTHER: Choose another topic linked to what you learned in this unit. Make sure to have the topic approved by your teacher.

Vocabulary and idioms for travel .................... 3, 14 Pronunciation: Regular verb endings -s and -ed .............................. 4 Strategies: Guess meaning from context.................... 7 Take notes while you listen........................ 15 Literary Device: Personication.............. 12 Writing: Descriptive writing ...... 12 Writing a thesis statement for a narrative essay......... 13

Refer to the Writing Files on page 129 for information on essays. Refer to appendix 2 on page 179 for information on oral presentations.

THE SHARING ECONOMY: What are you willing to share with a stranger? Time magazine names the collaborative consumption movement as one of the top 10 ideas that will change the world. What are the positive and negative aspects of a sharing economy? How might it affect the community where it is implemented?

LIFE IN THE ARCTIC OR A PILGRIMAGE TO COMPOSTELA? Of these two journeys, which one are you more interested in experiencing and why? Use examples from the texts in the unit to support your choice.

Top Words Put a check mark next to the words and expressions you know. Use the page numbers to nd the other words in the unit and review their meaning. Add to the list new words you want to remember. Adjectives

Expressions

Nouns

Verbs

jet-lagged (10)

a leap of faith (5)

anomaly (5)

to chatter (7)

painful (8)

a ripple effect (5)

bustle (7)

to fund (5)

tapped out (9)

to pay it forward (5)

hostel (5)

to host (5)

to seep in (10)

mecca (5)

to lure (7)

trudge (9)

to make out (7)

Adverb unwisely (8)

to overcome (5) to set out (9)

Other:

Vocabulary from the unit and other theme-related vocabulary can be practised online.

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Connections Connections

2 Connections Connections Connections CONNECTIONS

UNIT

Connections Connections

How Do You Connect to Your World?

Factors that influence our social behaviours

Do you follow the crowd or do you dance to the beat of your own drum? Have you ever wondered why we gossip and the role it plays in our social cohesion? Is technology changing the way we connect with each other? Is it possible not to be influenced by others? In this unit, you will learn more about the impact of social norms and expectations. Reproduction prohibited © TC Media Books Inc.

STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD How Do You Connect to Your World?

WARM-UP

How Do You Connect?

Are you a lone wolf or a pack leader? What or who inuences the decisions you make?

Interview a classmate to nd out more about how he or she connects with others. Write your answers and your partner’s answers in the chart.

Question

Your Answer

Partner’s Answer

1. Do you usually conform to social norms or rebel against them?

2. How do you choose music and clothes?

3. What effect does peer pressure have on you?

4. Do you gossip about others? Why or why not?

5. How many Facebook friends do you have? How many real friends do you have? What is the difference?

6. Is it possible to not be inuenced by the opinions of others? Explain.

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READING

FOR INTERACTION

Are we programmed to follow the leader? What happens when someone strays too far from the herd? Gwen Dewar, a writer and anthropologist, explores these questions.

Discussion and Comprehension Discuss the following questions with a partner. Write your thoughts in the second column of the chart. Then read “The Curse of the Herd” on page 22. Use the information in the article to complete the last column.

Question

Your Thoughts

What the Article Says

1. From an evolutionary standpoint, are we designed to conform to social norms? Explain.

2. In which situations is social conformity important?

3. Do most people think or act for themselves? Explain.

4. What important role does critical thinking play in our society?

5. What is the “curse of the herd”?

6. What are the dangers of growing up in a society that “permits no strays”?

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Vocabulary Match each word or expression with its denition before you read. The line number is in parentheses. 1.

strays (n., 70)

a. disagreement

2.

ostracism (n., 11)

b. those who wander away from a group

3.

to court (v., 11)

c. something obvious

4.

to t in (exp., 14)

d. to express insincere loyalty or support

5.

to rock the boat (exp., 14)

e. to attempt to gain

6.

to pay lip service (exp., 25)

f.

7.

to jibe (v., 27)

g. exclusion from a group

8.

dissent (n., 28)

h. to belong

9.

a no-brainer (exp., 64)

i.

a group

a herd (n., 69)

j.

to cause trouble

10.

to agree

The Curse of the Herd

By Gwen Dewar, PhD

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15

paradigm (n.)

model

straightforward (adj.)

groupthink (n.) or opinion

22

20

easy

group decision

UNIT 2 Connections

25

confess I’m biased. I get very irritated by mindless conformity, even about silly, inconsequential things. I nd it exasperating, for instance, when people can’t decide for themselves if a song is beautiful or a person attractive. There is reason to think that we are designed to conform, that our ancestors evolved a sensitivity to social cues and a tendency to adopt group norms. Sometimes the majority has got practical information to share—information that is objectively helpful, like how to catch a sh or prevent infection. In other cases, group norms are arbitrary, but useful when everyone agrees on them. It doesn’t matter which side of the street we drive on, as long as we all conform to the same rule. There is also the sort of conformity that exists for purely social reasons. We conform to avoid ostracism or to court social approval. We conform to signal our afliation with an ingroup and to distinguish ourselves from members of an out-group. I understand why such social conformity is important. If you want to get along in society, it pays to t in. Nobody wants to rock the boat about issues that don’t matter very much anyway. Presumably, that is why people conform so blatantly when they participate in certain psychology experiments. In a famous experimental paradigm created by Solomon Asch, people are asked to judge which among a series of lines are the same length. The task is straightforward, but many people have given answers that were clearly wrong, simply because they believed that the majority endorsed the incorrect answer. The result has been replicated over and over again, in a variety of cultures. As Daniel Haun and Michael Tomasello have demonstrated, this sort of conformity can be found even among very young children. What does it mean? In many cases, the conformists are probably biting their tongues. Though they say they agree with the majority, in the privacy of their own minds they know better. But what if people are doing more than paying lip service to a few groupthink mistakes?

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What if they are actively revising their own, private views, realigning their perceptions and preferences to jibe with popular opinion? And what if they are intolerant of dissent or ready to punish people for thinking original thoughts? These aren’t science ction scenarios. The world is full of examples of arbitrary social pressure and authoritarianism. And as for the idea that people actually change their minds—internalize popular attitudes—that seems pretty obvious too. How else can we explain that the majority in high school thinks the current mode of dress is cool, and that all others are geeky? That the most important determinant of your religious afliation is cultural geography—the religion adopted by whatever in-group you happened to be born into? But if you want more evidence, consider this experiment by Jamil Zaki and his colleagues (2011). The researchers asked young men to rate the attractiveness of different female faces, and then told the men that their ratings disagreed with the results of a popular poll. Thirty minutes later, the young men were asked to rate the faces again, and their new responses tended to agree with what they believed to be majority opinion. Moreover, the men who revised their judgments showed increased activity in brain regions linked with the coding of subjective values. It seems these men were truly changing their minds. Something analogous might happen when people conform about their music preferences (Berns et al. 2005), or when they make perceptual judgments about complex, three-dimensional shapes (Berns et al. 2010). Other experiments show that adults conform to in-group attitudes about race, aesthetic judgments about geometric shapes, and even answers to logic problems (Sechrist and Young 2011; Stallen et al. 2012; Rosenham et al. 1963). How deep does this conformity run? How much trouble might it cause? It is disturbing, and it should concern everyone. Yes, social conformity serves some helpful functions, and many people believe in the rights of various groups to enforce their own cultural norms. If a community wants to reject science in favour of folk remedies, or to punish people for teaching evolution, isn’t that their prerogative? But unless this group is composed solely of adult volunteers, there is a problem. Children don’t volunteer. They don’t choose their birthplace. They don’t choose their parents or the cultural setting in which they grow up. Is freedom of thought a human right? Do kids have a right to learn about the tools of critical thinking? By teaching critical thinking, we help people distinguish between better and worse solutions. We help people battle social pressure, the pressure to accept an idea because it is popular, traditional, or the pet of a charismatic advocate. And that doesn’t just benet the individual. It benets us all when people are free to think for themselves and test their ideas against the evidence and principles of logic. Chances are you owe something—your life, your education, your standard of living, the state of your health—to the innovative thinking of other people. Maybe this seems like a no-brainer. I hope it does. But I am struck by how many people seem content to impose unreective, conformist thinking on children—if not on their own children, then on other people’s children. It is very easy to say “live and let live.” The motto might even mean something when we are talking about fully competent adults. But making it into a consistent, coherent principle requires a lot of work. We need to acknowledge the pressure to conform—the curse of the herd—and what it means to grow up in a society that permits no strays.

attractiveness (n.)

beauty

Read “The Ghost Commune” for an example of someone who strayed from the crowd but realized the importance of human connection.

948 words

Between the Lines 1.

What is the author’s purpose in “The Curse of the Herd”?

2.

Have you ever felt “the pressure to accept an idea because it is popular, traditional, or the pet of a charismatic advocate” (line 58)?

3.

Can you think of historical events where conformity proved to have tragic results?

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23

SPEAKING

Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) is recognized as one of America’s greatest poets. Although she secluded herself from society and led a simple life in Massachusetts, she wrote powerful poetry. Her style of unconventional punctuation and capitalization and short, concise phrases provokes the reader.

Who Are You?

Are you somebody or nobody? The famous poet Emily Dickinson questioned who she was and how she t into the social fabric of her society.

Discuss the meaning of this poem with a partner using the guiding questions in the chart below. Write your answers in the chart.

I’m Nobody—Who Are You?

I

’m Nobody! Who are you? Are you—Nobody—too?

Then there’s a pair of us! Don’t tell! They’d advertise—you know! dreary (adj.)

boring

How dreary—to be—Somebody! How public—like a Frog— To tell one’s name—the livelong June—

Bog (n.)

wet, muddy ground

To an admiring Bog!

Emily Dickinson (1830—1886)

L iterary Device SIMILE A simile is a gure of speech that compares two things that are alike in some way. To help you identify a simile, look for the words like or as. Examples: as cute as a kitten / ts like a glove

1. Is it possible to be nobody? What does Dickinson mean by “nobody”?

24

UNIT 2 Connections

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2. Is she including you, the reader, in her circle or is she excluding you? Explain.

3. Is she happy to be in the sphere of nobodies? Look at her punctuation and explain.

4. Why doesn’t she want the reader to tell anyone?

5. Does Dickinson prefer to be Nobody or Somebody? Explain.

6. Do Somebodies say or do anything of importance?

7. Find the following elements in the poem and explain their meaning. Refer to the Literary Device on page 24. Refer to unit 1, page 12, for information on personication.

a. Simile:

b. Personication:

8. Do you like this poem? Explain.

Creative Writing Write a poem about conforming to or rebelling against social norms. Share your poem with a partner.

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Refer to the Anthology section on page 159 for information on poetry writing.

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Pronunciation Word Stress English is a stressed-time language. This means that, in words of two or more syllables, one syllable receives emphasis and is pronounced louder and stronger than the other syllables. For example, the four-syllable word development is pronounced de.VEL .op.ment. Underline the stressed syllable of these words taken from the audio segment below. Then listen carefully to the pronunciation of these words and repeat them after the speaker. Did you emphasize the correct syllable? 1. in.u.ence

4. in.de.pen.dent

7. nor.mal.ize

10. neg .a.tive

2. en.er.gy

5. mes .sage

8. con .ser.va.tion

11. na.tion.al

3. sus .cep.ti.ble

6. stra.te.gy

9. sit .u.a.tion

12. fu.ture

LISTENING

Riding the Herd Mentality

Are you swayed by the opinions of others? Listen to this interview with author and researcher Robert Cialdini to learn more about the powerful pull of peer pressure on social behaviour.

Discussion 1. How much inuence do others have on the choices you make? 2. What role does peer pressure play in inuencing you to adopt certain social norms? 3. Which media campaigns have inuenced you to change your behaviour?

Vocabulary Complete these expressions with an animal from the word box. Then listen to the interview and check off the expressions you heard.

birds

26

UNIT 2 Connections

cattle

sh

insects

lions

1. A ock of

4. A herd of

2. A swarm of

5. A pride of

3. A pod of

6. A school of

whales

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Comprehension 1. What are social norms?

2. How should we determine what to do in a social situation?

3. Explain the San Diego Energy Experiment. Fill in the chart with information from the interview. a. What did they want to nd out?

b. What did they do?

c. What was written on the four signs?

d. Which message had the most inuence?

e. What did they conclude?

4. Do the people interviewed in the experiment believe others inuence them?

5. Explain the impact of their beliefs on social policy.

6. When does knowing what others are doing have a negative inuence on us?

7. Explain the Petried Forest National Park problem.

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How Do You Connect to Your World?

27

Idioms Idioms for social norms can be practised online.

Social Norms Have you ever stood out from the crowd, or gone against the grain? Learn these useful idiomatic expressions related to social behaviour. Match each idiom with its meaning. Ask your partner a question using the idiom and the present perfect tense. Start your question with Have you ever and remember to use the correct past participle. Record your partner’s answers in the chart below. Pay attention to the different verb tenses used.

Have you ever …

Grammar Link PRESENT PERFECT Use the present perfect to talk about an action or event that happened at an unspecied time in the past. (The fact that it happened, rather than the time when it happened, is important.) To form it: Have or has + past participle of the verb Have you ever stood out from the crowd? —Yes, I have. Remember to use appropriate tenses when giving details of the action or event. At a rock concert, while I was singing happily with my friends, the lead singer stopped and brought me on stage to dance. I was embarrassed. I don’t like to stand out from the crowd! Refer to REAL 3 Grammar Reference and Practice, unit 2, and appendix 6 for a list of irregular past participles.

Meaning

1. (stand) out from the crowd?

Partner’s Answer

d

2. (go) with the ow?

3. (go) against the grain?

4. (dance) to the beat of your own drum?

5. (give) someone a hand?

6. (beat) around the bush?

7. (pull) someone’s leg?

8. (rub) someone the wrong way?

9. (wear) out your welcome?

10. (let) the cat out of the bag?

Meaning a. help someone b. play a joke on someone by not telling the truth c. go against the generally accepted practice or societal norms d. be noticeable e. do what other people are doing or agree with their opinion

28

UNIT 2 Connections

be deliberately ambiguous or unclear irritate someone stay too long or visit too often do things the way you want without taking other people into consideration j. reveal a secret or surprise by accident f. g. h. i.

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SPEAKING

Are We Alone Together?

Is it possible that despite all our efforts to connect and stay in touch, we are having less intimate conversations and relationships with one another?

Fill in

the second column of the chart with your preferred method of communication for each situation and explain the reason for your choice. Discuss your answers with a partner and write his or her answers in the nal column. Choose from the following methods of communication or add your own.

The Situation

Your Method of Communication

cellphone

post online

email

social media

face-to-face

text message

home phone

video call

Partner’s Method of Communication

1. To organize an event: a. a high school reunion b. your grandmother’s birthday 2. To complain about something: a. your bad day b. bad service at a store or restaurant 3. To disagree with someone: a. to argue with your parents b. to confront your best friend about something 4. To cancel plans or a meeting: a. with your friends b. with a teacher 5. To share good news: a. about a recent trip b. about a new love interest 6. To offer someone wishes: a. Happy Birthday b. Congratulations

Discussion and Writing 1. Based on your answers in the chart, which are the most and the least popular methods of communication? What does this say about you and your generation? 2. How has technology changed the way we connect with others? Explain your answer. 3. Are these changes mostly positive or negative? Explain your answer. Reproduction prohibited © TC Media Books Inc.

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READING

Grammar Link PHRASAL VERBS Phrasal verbs are very common in English. They consist of a verb followed by a preposition, an adverb, or both. The preposition or adverb adds new meaning to the verb. Look after → take care of I often looked after my younger brother. Look into → research or investigate The manager will look into the complaint. Look over → inspect You should look over your homework carefully. Look up → consult a reference work I looked up that word in the dictionary. Refer to REAL 3 Grammar Reference and Practice, unit 8, and appendix 5 for a list of common phrasal verbs.

ight (n.)

FOR STRATEGY • MAIN IDEA AND AUTHOR’S PURPOSE

Is technology allowing us to sacrice conversation for connection? In this New York Times opinion text, professor Sherry Turkle challenges us to think critically about the changes texting and social media are bringing to our personal relationships.

Vocabulary Circle the correct denition of each phrasal verb or expression before you read. The line number is in parentheses. 1.

to grow up (15)

a. to become an adult

b. to increase in size

2.

to show up (15)

a. to get ready

b. to arrive

3.

to lay out (19)

a. to display

b. to go to sleep

4.

to attend to (41)

a. to pay attention to

b. to wait for

5.

to ramp up (44)

a. to crawl

b. to increase

6.

to dumb down (46) a. to make smaller

b. to make less intellectually demanding

7.

to get by (52)

a. to manage

b. to win

8.

to ee from (74)

a. to compete with

b. to run away from

9.

to turn to (75)

a. to go to for help

b. to increase the volume

10.

to look up (88)

a. to turn your attention to

b. to see clearly

The Flight from Conversation

escape

By Sherry Turkle, PhD

W 5

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UNIT 2 Connections

e live in a technological universe in which we are always communicating. And yet we have sacriced conversation for mere connection. At home, families sit together, texting and reading email. At work, executives text during board meetings. We text (and shop and go on Facebook) during classes and when we’re on dates. My students tell me about an important new skill. It involves maintaining eye contact with someone while you text someone else. It’s hard, but it can be done.

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Over the past 15 years, I’ve studied technologies of mobile connection and talked to hundreds of people of all ages and circumstances about their plugged-in lives. I’ve learned that the little devices most of us carry around are so powerful that they change not only what we do, but also who we are. We’ve become accustomed to a new way of being “alone together.”Technology-enabled, we are able to be with one another, and also elsewhere, connected to wherever we want to be. We want to customize our lives. We want to move in and out of where we are because the thing we value most is control over where we focus our attention. In today’s workplace, young people who have grown up fearing conversation show up on the job wearing earphones. Walking through a college library or the campus of a hightech start-up, one sees the same thing: we are together, but each of us is in our own bubble, furiously connected to keyboards and tiny touch screens. A senior partner at a law rm describes a scene in his ofce. Young associates lay out their suite of technologies: laptops, iPods and multiple phones. And then they put their earphones on. “Big ones. Like pilots. They turn their desks into cockpits.” In the silence of connection, people are comforted by being in touch with a lot of people—carefully kept at bay. We can’t get enough of one another if we can use technology to keep one another at distances we can control: not too close, not too far, just right. I think of it as a Goldilocks eect. Texting and email and posting let us present the self we want to be. This means we can edit. And if we wish to, we can delete. Or retouch: the voice, the esh, the face, the body. Not too much, not too little—just right. Human relationships are rich; they’re complicated and demanding. We have learned the habit of cleaning them up with technology. And the move from conversation to connection is part of this. But it’s a process in which we shortchange ourselves. Worse, it seems that over time we stop caring, we forget that there is a difference. We are tempted to think that our little “sips” of online connection add up to a big gulp of real conversation. But they don’t. Email, Twitter, Facebook, all of these have their places— in politics, commerce, romance, and friendship. But no matter how valuable, they do not substitute for conversation. Connecting in sips may work for gathering discrete bits of information or for saying, “I am thinking about you.” Or even for saying, “I love you.” But connecting in sips doesn’t work as well when it comes to understanding and knowing one another. In conversation we tend to one another. (The word itself is kinetic; it’s derived from words that mean to move, together.) We can attend to tone and nuance. In conversation, we are called upon to see things from another’s point of view. Face-to-face conversation unfolds slowly. It teaches patience. When we communicate on our digital devices, we learn different habits. As we ramp up the volume and velocity of online connections, we start to expect faster answers. To get these, we ask one another simpler questions; we dumb down our communications. And we use conversation with others to learn to converse with ourselves. So our ight from conversation can mean diminished chances to learn skills of self-reection. These days, social media continually asks us what’s “on our mind,” but we have little motivation to say something truly self-reective. Self-reection in conversation requires trust. It’s hard to do anything with three thousand Facebook friends except connect. As we get used to being shortchanged on conversation and to getting by with less, we seem almost willing to dispense with people altogether. Serious people think about the future of computer programs as psychiatrists. A high school sophomore condes to me that he wishes he could talk to an articial intelligence program instead of his dad about dating; he says the A.I. would have so much more in its database. Indeed, many people tell me they hope that as Siri, the digital assistant on Apple’s iPhone, becomes more advanced,“she” will be more and more like a best friend—one who will listen when others won’t. During the years I have spent researching people and their relationships with technology, I have often heard the sentiment “No one is listening to me.” I believe this feeling helps

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The term “Goldilocks effect” comes from a popular children’s story, “The Three Bears.” A young girl, Goldilocks, enters a house owned by three bears while they are away. She tests their three different food bowls (and beds). One of them is too hot (or too large), one is too cold (or too small), and one is “just right.”

Goldilocks effect (n.) situation where only a particular set of conditions is agreeable

shortchange (v.) give less than deserved or expected to sips (n.) a drink

small mouthfuls of

gulp (n.)

large mouthful of a drink

tend to (v.)

pay attention to

How Do You Connect to Your World?

31

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75

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85

explain why it is so appealing to have a Facebook page or a Twitter feed—each provides so many automatic listeners. And it helps explain why—against all reason—so many of us are willing to talk to machines that seem to care about us. We expect more from technology and less from one another and seem increasingly drawn to technologies that provide the illusion of companionship without the demands of relationship. Always-on/always-on-you devices provide three powerful fantasies: that we will always be heard; that we can put our attention wherever we want it to be; and that we never have to be alone. Indeed our new devices have turned being alone into a problem that can be solved. Think of it as “I share, therefore I am.” We use technology to dene ourselves by sharing our thoughts and feelings as we’re having them. We used to think, “I have a feeling; I want to make a call.” Now our impulse is, “I want to have a feeling; I need to send a text.” So, in order to feel more, and to feel more like ourselves, we connect. But in our rush to connect, we ee from solitude, our ability to be separate and gather ourselves. Lacking the capacity for solitude, we turn to other people but don’t experience them as they are. It is as though we use them, need them as spare parts to support our increasingly fragile selves. We think constant connection will make us feel less lonely. The opposite is true. If we are unable to be alone, we are far more likely to be lonely. I am a partisan for conversation. To make room for it, I see some rst, deliberate steps. At home, we can create sacred spaces: the kitchen, the dining room. We can make our cars “devicefree zones.” And we can do the same thing at work. There we are so busy communicating that we often don’t have time to talk to one another about what really matters. Most of all, we need to remember in between texts and e-mails and Facebook posts—to listen to one another, even to the boring bits, because it is often in unedited moments, moments in which we hesitate and stutter and go silent, that we reveal ourselves to one another. Not too long ago, people walked with their heads up, looking at the water, the sky, the sand and at one another, talking. Now they often walk with their heads down, typing. Even when they are with friends, partners, children, everyone is on their own devices. So I say, look up, look at one another, and let’s start the conversation. 1279 words

How To FIND THE MAIN IDEA AND THE AUTHOR’S PURPOSE Refer to Writing Files 1 on page 132 and Writing Files 3 on page 150 for information on thesis statements.

The main idea is the point or message a writer expresses about a topic. It may be expressed in the title, introduction, or conclusion of the text. Look for a thesis statement in the introduction. This statement expresses the main idea. Then ask yourself the author’s purpose or intent in writing this text. Is it to inform or educate? Is it to persuade or convince the reader to take action? Is it to entertain or provoke an emotional reaction?

Comprehension 1. Scan the article for the main idea and the author’s purpose. Underline the thesis statement in the introduction. Describe the main idea and author’s purpose in one sentence. Use the present perfect.

2. What does it mean to be “alone together”? Give an example from the text.

32

UNIT 2 Connections

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3. Are today’s youth afraid of conversation according to the author? Explain. Do you agree with Sherry Turkle’s description?

4. Describe the Goldilocks effect. Do you do this?

5. When does connecting in “sips” work? When does it not work?

6. How does our ight from conversation reduce our ability to be self-reective? Do you nd this to be true in your life? Explain.

7. Explain the statement “I share, therefore I am” in your own words.

8. How does constant connection make us feel lonely?

9. How can we make room for more conversation in our lives? Do you do these things already?

10. Why should we make room for more conversation in our lives? Do you agree with the author’s point of view?

Watch a video interview with Sherry Turkle, “Being Alone Together,” to further understand her insight and arguments on this subject.

Between the Lines The author is trying to convince you that we “have sacriced conversation for mere connection.” 1.

Discuss her arguments and suggestions in small groups.

2.

Has she succeeded? Why or why not?

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How Do You Connect to Your World?

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Focus on Language: Present Perfect Refer to REAL 3 Grammar Reference and Practice, unit 2.

Scan the text on pages 30–32 and highlight all the occurrences of the present perfect. Did you nd nine?

Analyze two of the examples you found. Why does the author use the present perfect tense and not the simple past? Explain your analysis of the language by referring to the grammar rules for using the present perfect. 1.

2.

Focus on Opinion Writing Refer to Writing Files 1, 2, and 3, page 129, for information on writing an essay.

Write an opinion essay on either the pros or cons of social media as a way of connecting with the world. • Is it true: are we sacricing conversation for connectedness? • Think of three reasons that support your point of view. • Use a ve-paragraph essay structure with an introduction, a body paragraph for each reason, and a conclusion.

How To WRITE AN OPINION ESSAY The purpose of an opinion essay is to state your opinion clearly and support it with reasons and examples. • Your thesis statement should be clearly stated in the opening paragraph. The reader needs to know what your point of view is. • Develop your reasons in the body paragraphs of your essay. Each paragraph should contain a focussed controlling idea that supports your point of view—your topic sentence. • Use examples, anecdotes, or facts and statistics to prove, illustrate, or explain your topic sentence.

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UNIT 2 Connections

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The Real Dirt on Gossip

WATCHING

Oscar Wilde said that the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about. What do you think he meant? Is it possible that gossip is the key to social success and social cohesion? In this documentary from CBC’s Doc Zone, you will learn more about the reasons why we gossip.

Quiz a partner to nd out how much you know about gossip before you watch the documentary. 1. How much of what we talk about is gossip? 10%

50%

70%

5. Who gossips more? Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) is a well-known author from Dublin, Ireland. The quote on this page comes from the rst chapter of his only known novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray. The book tells the tale of a young man whose portrait starts to age instead of himself, leading to disastrous consequences.

Men

90% Women

2. What percentage of gossip is negative? 90%

50%

25%

3. Are we hardwired to gossip? Yes

Both the same but about different topics

5%

6. If you don’t gossip, you are …

No

Moral

4. Usually, why do we gossip?

Alone

a. To hurt people

Trustworthy

b. To bond with people

Honest

c. To learn from others d. b and c

Vocabulary Watch the introduction to the documentary and complete the sentences with the words you hear. Look up any unfamiliar words or expressions in a dictionary. 1.

is the foundation of civilization.

2. Why do we feel so

about gossip?

3. A lot of people consider it as a way to 4. My

other people.

it is that gossip is a way to hold other people accountable.

5. Gossip is a really powerful way of learning who is friend and who is 6. There is nothing like a

of gossip.

7. It is a no-calorie, no-hangover 8. But to be in the 9. We must be

.

. is only human.

to gossip.

10. Here is the inside

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on everything you need to know about gossip.

How Do You Connect to Your World?

35

Comprehension Watch the rest of the video and answer these questions. 1. What do the experts tell us about gossip? Summarize what each expert says about gossip in the chart below.

Expert’s Name and Profession

Expert’s Opinion on Gossip

a. Frank McAndrew, professor of psychology

b. Kate Fox, social anthropologist

c. Robin Dunbar, professor of evolutionary anthology

d. Jack Levin, professor of sociology

2. How much of what we talk about is gossip?

3. What “higher purpose” does gossip serve according to the woman at the nail salon?

4. Explain how gossip is the key to social success. List three elements. • • • 5. What is the history of the word “gossip”? How did it change?

36

UNIT 2 Connections

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6. What does the cab driver say about gossip?

7. Describe these ancient tools of torture used to prevent women from gossiping.

The Scold’s Bridle

Ducking Stool

8. Who gossips more, men or women, according to studies? How do men’s and women’s gossip differ?

9. Return to the gossip quiz you took before watching this documentary and correct your answers on page 35.

Vocabulary for Gossip and Communication Complete each expression with the appropriate words from the word box. Then watch the video again to verify your answers.

to be

to chew

to have

to blow

to dish

to spread

to chatter

to get

to wag

1.

the dirt

4.

idly

7.

out of proportion

2.

the gift of the gab

5.

your tongue

8.

miles from the truth

3.

on the day’s events

6.

it off their chest

9.

the news

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How Do You Connect to Your World?

37

Topic Files Write a text or give an oral presentation on one of the following topics. Try to incorporate the elements from the Make the Connection box and use as many of the Top Words as you can.

Make the Connection Grammar Links: Present perfect ............ 28 Phrasal verbs .............. 30 Vocabulary for gossip and communication ... 37 Idioms related to social norms .......................... 28 Pronunciation: Word stress ................ 26 Strategy: Find the main idea and author’s purpose .......................... 32

1 2 3 4 5 6

THE HERD MENTALITY: What are the implications of growing up or living in a society that views conformity as a prized social value? PEER PRESSURE: What role does peer pressure play in the decisions we make and the people we become? FAMILY EXPECTATIONS: How do your family’s or society’s expectations of you inuence the decisions you make and the person you become? TECHNOLOGY: Is technology improving or hindering the way we connect with each other? GOSSIP: What role does gossip play in our society and the way we connect with our world? OTHER: Choose another topic linked to what you learned in this unit. Make sure to have the topic approved by your teacher.

Literary Device: Simile .......................... 24 Writing: Writing an opinion essay ........................... 34

Refer to the Writing Files on page 129 for information on essays. Refer to appendix 2 on page 179 for information on oral presentations.

Top Words Put a check mark next to the words and expressions you know. Use the page numbers to nd the other words in the unit and review their meaning. Add to the list new words you want to remember. Adjectives

Expressions

Nouns

Verbs

dreary (24)

no-brainer (22)

dissent (22)

to attend to (30)

hardwired (35)

to ee from (30)

gossip (35)

to court (22)

to pay lip service (22)

a herd (22)

to get by (30)

ostracism (22)

to hurt (35)

to rock the boat (22)

to show up (30)

Other:

Vocabulary from the unit and other theme-related vocabulary can be practised online.

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UNIT 2 Connections

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Morality MORALITY

Morality Morality UNIT

Morality

3

Morality Morality

Can We Tell Right from Wrong?

Morality

The impact our moral compass has on the ethical decisions we make

Are we born moral? Are we less moral than previous generations? When is it acceptable to tell little white lies? What do fairy tales teach us about morality? In this unit, you will learn more about the origins and impact of our moral code. Reproduction prohibited © TC Media Books Inc.

TO TELL A WHITE LIE Can We Tell Right from Wrong?

WARM-UP

quandaries (n.) difcult situations or dilemmas

Take an Ethical Quiz

We all know right from wrong, don’t we? Actually, our moral compass is continually shifting and being tested. Quandaries arise every day that force us to ask, “What should I do? Should I tell the truth?”

Take the quiz below to nd out more about your moral code. Score your results using the blue box in the margin. Discuss your answers with a partner. 1. Your friend is wearing an unattering outt and asks for your opinion: a. You kindly tell the truth. b. You mention that you liked yesterday’s outt better. c. You claim that the outt looks great. 2. You realize the waitress didn’t charge you for the two drinks you ordered: a. You tell her and pay for what you consumed. b. You leave a generous tip. c. Yeah … free drinks! 3. You nd a wallet that contains $100 cash, many credit cards, and a driver’s licence: a. You nd the contact information and return the wallet as you found it. b. You take the cash as a nder’s fee but return the wallet to its owner. c. Finders, keepers! 4. You see a classmate cheating during an exam: a. You notify the teacher. b. You tell your classmate you saw the incident in the hope it won’t happen again. c. You do nothing, because you think it’s none of your business. 5. You stretch the truth on your job application and you get the job: If you chose: Mostly a’s—You’re a role model. You listen to your conscience and choose to do the right thing most of the time. Mostly b’s—You need a few reminders. You sometimes steer away from the right decision. Think twice before you make decisions and you’ll get back on track. Mostly c’s—You’re not perfect. Your decisions are not always ethical. With some work, you can redeem yourself.

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UNIT 3 Morality

a. You tell your new boss the truth and hope he will understand. b. You make up for the lie by researching and reading up on the company. c. You pray the company will never nd out. 6. Your best friend always downloads music and movies illegally: a. You suggest that your friend pay for the products instead. b. You turn a blind eye, knowing that most people do this but you prefer to pay for your products. c. You ask your friend to download something for you.

Discussion 1. Look at the above scenarios again and rate them as serious or not too serious. In what situations are you more likely to “do the right thing”? 2. How do you and your partner decide what to do in these situations? What or who guides you? 3. Do you think we are born with a moral compass or do we learn it? If we learn it, who teaches us right from wrong? 4. Are we more or less moral as a society than in the past?

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READING

FOR CHALLENGE

Are we in a moral decline as a society? How does the way we use language reect our social moral fabric? Read the article to nd out more.

Vocabulary Find words in the article which use the afxes listed in the chart. Write the meaning of the afx and of the words you nd. Refer to the How To in the margin to help you.

Afx

Words from the Article

Meaning of the Afx

Meaning of the Words

-ity

-ment

-ness

dis-

im-

-al

The Moral Decline in the Words We Use

T 5

10

By Jen Doll The Wire

here have been a spate of interesting research studies using the power and scope of the 5.2-million-strong Google Books archive to track the way we use language. A recent paper published in the Journal of Positive Psychology from identical twin researchers Pelin and Selin Kesebir analyzes the appearance and frequency of words “related to moral excellence and virtue” in American books from 1901 to 2000. If the books are to be believed, we may be in a moral decline. The Kesebirs undertook two studies for the paper. In the rst, they looked at ten words denoting the general moral worth of a person: character, conscience, decency, dignity, ethics, morality, rectitude, righteousness, uprightness, and virtue. In the second, they looked at fty “virtue words,” like honesty, patience, honour, kindness, sincerity, courage, generosity, mercy,

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How To UNDERSTAND MEANING THROUGH WORD ANALYSIS Many English words are formed by adding afxes to the root of the word. For example, the common prex “un-” means the opposite of or not. The common sufx “-ness” means the state of or condition. So, the word unhappiness means the state of not being happy. spate (n.) amount

large or excessive

Can We Tell Right from Wrong?

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15

nadir (n.)

lowest point

20

25

30

salient (adj.)

prominent

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UNIT 3 Morality

wisdom, humility, and so on. Obtaining word frequency data from Google Ngram Viewer, the Kesebirs found in both studies overwhelming declines in the use of the selected words. In the rst study, “the frequency of eight words (character, conscience, decency, dignity, rectitude, righteousness, uprightness, virtue) showed a signicant negative correlation with time,” they write in their paper. Words related to care and concern for others declined the most. “Of the ten words, six had already reached their peak frequency by 1904 and seven had their nadir after 1980,” they explain. Some words did show an increased use—ethics increased signicantly, for instance— but the Kesebirs believe those upswings to be related to non-virtuous associations: “The increase in the word reliability is possibly due to its use as a statistical term, the increase in hospitality is due to the increase in the use of terms such as hospitality industry.” With ethics, they believe the increase is related to the study of philosophy and not with regard to human moral qualities. Overall, in the second study, there was a statistically signicant decline in 74 per cent of the words they studied, including honesty, patience, honour, truthfulness, kindness, sincerity, courage, generosity, mercy, wisdom, humility, faithfulness, charity, humbleness, bravery, thoughtfulness, grace, helpfulness, courtesy, love, perseverance, modesty, politeness, delity, justice, gratitude, diligence, thankfulness, gentleness, sacrice, benevolence, fortitude, purity, temperance, faith, hospitality, and appreciation. A few words showed increased use: compassion, integrity, fairness, tolerance, selessness, discipline, dependability, reliability. Analyzing these words as used in books is a way to highlight a culture’s consciousness, they told the Atlantic Wire: “The words in a book reect what is salient in the minds of a culture’s members, and simultaneously make these words even more salient. It’s a feedback cycle whereby people make cultural products and the cultural products make people,” they wrote. This doesn’t mean we’re in an immoral spiral, yet: “It would be a stretch from the data to say that our ndings reect an actual moral decline in America—that people are less moral now. But we believe that even if not outright moral decline, a moral confusion would be an unsurprising consequence of this downward trend in the cultural salience of morality concepts.” Simply, fewer virtue words in books means that the concepts those words stand for are less a part of the individual and societal consciousness. “People simply do not think/talk/write about morality and virtue as much anymore,” the Kesebirs write. “The vocabulary for talking about issues of good and bad, right and wrong thus seems to be shrinking.” They relate this to Christian Smith’s work for his book Lost in Transition: The Dark Side of Emerging Adulthood, in which Smith and researchers found that the ways in which “emergent adults” thought about moral issues was not particularly consistent, coherent, or articulate—and instead, extremely individualistic. “These young people said, for example, that they would refrain from judging anyone who has cheated in an exam or stolen something, because everyone is entitled to their own moral opinion,” they wrote. “We think that this extreme moral individualism and relativism can be partly explained by our ndings—these young people have not been socialized into a shared moral framework, and they simply lack the vocabulary for it.” If we aren’t using moral words in our vocabularies, what are we using? They told me that while they couldn’t answer empirically the question of what words were “replacing” once-common virtue words, theoretically they believe that individualism is the driving factor. Words like unique, personalize, self, and phrases like all about me, I am special, and I’m the best have found an increased frequency in American books between the years of 1960 and 2008, they say, citing the work of Jean M. Twenge. “We may say that the downward trend in the cultural salience of morality terms is accompanied by an upward trend in the salience of terms related to the self,” they add. “One might as well say that words about technology (e.g., Internet, Blu-ray, plastic) have replaced [such virtue words].” The Kesebirs believe that their ndings are “somewhat disconcerting,” and connect to an overall decline in how we feel about morality in America, as well as to the “narcissism epidemic” Twenge has explored previously. “Our ndings t in this broad cultural picture in which individual achievement and fulllment are valued above almost everything else, and denitely above communal values. We should not forget that religion’s impact on the public

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consciousness has also long been fading, which doubtlessly contributed to the fading of a shared moral vocabulary,” they explain. “Virtues are vital to both individual and societal ourishing. As stated in the conclusion of our article, ‘a virtue-salient culture would provide a more fertile ground for individual and societal ourishing than one where concepts of moral excellence are at the fringes of public conversation.’” On the bright, moral-positive side: Knowing what we do, and why we do it, is necessary in order to improve ... or so we’d hope. Hope, that’s a good word, right? 982 words

Comprehension 1. Who is the intended audience for this article?

2. What is the purpose of this article?

3. What is the main idea or message of this article?

4. Describe the studies and the overall nding.

5. Which words declined the most? What do you think about this nding?

6. What does analyzing words used in books tell us about a culture?

7. How do today’s young adults think about moral issues, according to the researcher? Can you relate?

8. What is replacing moral words in our vocabulary?

Between the Lines Discuss the meaning of this quote from the conclusion of the article. Do you agree or disagree? How can we make the change the author is suggesting? “A virtue-salient culture would provide a more fertile ground for individual and societal ourishing than one where concepts of moral excellence are at the fringes of public conversation.”

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Can We Tell Right from Wrong?

43

Vocabulary Complete the crossword puzzle with a partner. Read each denition below and nd the word or expression in bold in the article on pages 41–43. 1

2 3 5

6

4 7

9

8

10

11

12

13

15

14

16 17

18 19 20 21 22

23

Across 5. General tendency or inclination 9. Loyalty and devotion to a person, cause, or idea 12. Extent or range of 13. Gradual deterioration 14. Kindness in welcoming strangers or guests 15. Be without 17. State of being honest 18. Declining 19. High quality, excellence 20. Achieve a maximum of development or intensity 22. Polite, honest, and moral behaviour 23. Agreed to complete

44

UNIT 3 Morality

Down 1. Quality of being equitable 2. Quality or practice of moral excellence 3. Acting with less concern for yourself than others 4. Quality of not being too proud of yourself 6. Careful and persistent application or effort 7. State of being friendly and generous 8. Becoming smaller 10. Ability to judge what is true or right 11. Thriving 13. Feeling of disturbance 16. Margin 21. Act of accomplishing or nishing Reproduction prohibited © TC Media Books Inc.

WATCHING

Are We Born Moral?

Are we born with a sense of morality or is it something we learn as we grow up? Where do our notions of good and bad, our sense of justice and fairness originate? Watch this CBS 60 Minutes news report to nd out if babies can shed some light on the origins of our moral code.

Vocabulary Before you watch the video, brainstorm a list of synonyms and antonyms to describe an ethical person or situation. You may use an online thesaurus. 1. Synonyms of ethical

right,

2. Antonyms (unethical)

wrong,

Read “Are We Ready for a ‘Morality Pill’?” online for a discussion on whether such a pill could inuence our behaviour.

Watch How Oxytocin Boosts Our Empathy and Morality online to learn about the “love hormone” and the power it holds over human behaviour.

Discussion Watch the introduction and complete the questions the anchorwoman asks. Discuss the questions with a partner. inherently good?

1. 2. Are we born with a

?

3. Are we born teach us

waiting for the world to ?

Watch the rest of the news report and answer these questions. 1. Fill in the chart with information about the rst two puppet show experiments described in the report.

Toy in Box

The Ball Thief

a. What is the research question?

b. Explain the experiment.

c. Explain the result.

d. Explain the conclusion.

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Can We Tell Right from Wrong?

45

2. Decide if each statement about the Cheerios or graham cracker experiments is true or false. If it is false, write the correct statement. a. The aim of this study is to discover the origin of our biases.

T

F

b. Nate prefers the orange cat who likes graham crackers.

T

F

c. Babies show positive feelings toward the cat that prefers different snacks than the ones they like themselves.

T

F

d. We are taught to hate.

T

F

e. The studies show that babies have a bias to favour the self.

T

F

f. Evolution has predisposed us to trust “the other” for survival.

T

F

g. Society and parental nurturing can’t change our strong human bias.

T

F

3. Explain the differences between the younger children and older children in the token experiment. a. Younger children:

b. Older children:

4. What is the conclusion of the token experiment?

Discussion and Writing If babies are born with a basic sense of right and wrong, a universal moral core, where do you think all the evil in the world comes from?

Between the Lines According to the report, we are a mix of good and bad, or of “altruism, selshness, justice, bigotry, kindness.” Do you think this is true? Give your opinion by referring to each characteristic, and describe a time when you showed this personality trait and explain why.

46

UNIT 3 Morality

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Pronunciation Silent Letters English is full of silent letters. Silent letters are not pronounced. Pronouncing a silent letter can lead to miscommunication. Listen to each word and repeat it out loud. Then underline the silent letter or letters in each word in the chart. Write the appropriate silent letter or letters at the top of each column. Silent

Silent

ghost

crawl

climb

pneumonia

brought

knew

chalk

heir

wreak

debt

psychiatrist

caught

knight

could

honest

write

doubt

psychology

ght

knock

walk

honour

wrong

subtle

receipt

thought

unknowing

would

READING

Silent

Silent

Silent

Silent

Silent

FOR INTERACTION

Do fairy tales have a role to play in teaching moral values or indoctrinating social agendas? Today’s fairy tales often have happy endings, but in the past they were dark, violent moralistic tales. What does this change tell us about our moral code? Can you remember some of the fairy tales you read as a child?

Discussion Name three fairy tales that you remember from your childhood and write what you learned (or were supposed to learn) from each tale. Discuss your answers with a partner.

Fairy Tale Little Red Riding Hood

Moral Never talk to strangers.

1.

2.

3.

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Can We Tell Right from Wrong?

47

Vocabulary Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm (1786–1859), well-known as the Brothers Grimm, were German academics and scholars who collected and published folk tales. Many of these published tales are still very popular today, such as Cinderella and Snow White.

Read the following fairy tale and guess the meaning of the words in bold. Use context clues to help you. Write your answers in the lines provided in the margin.

Rumpelstiltskin By the Brothers Grimm

O 1. 2.

5

3. 4. 5. 10

6.

15

manikin (n.)

little man or dwarf

20

25

30

48

UNIT 3 Morality

nce there was a miller who was poor but who had a beautiful daughter. Now it happened that he had to go and speak to the king, and in order to make himself appear important the miller said to the king, “I have a daughter who can spin 1 straw into gold.” The king said to the miller, “That is an art which pleases me well. If your daughter is as clever 2 as you say, bring her tomorrow to my palace, and I will put her to the test.” When the girl was brought to him, the king took her into a room which was quite full of straw, gave her a spinning-wheel and a reel, and said, “Now set to work, and if by tomorrow morning early you have not spun this straw into gold during the night, you must die.” Thereupon the king locked up the room and left her in it alone. So there sat the poor miller’s daughter, and for the life of her could not tell what to do. She had no idea how straw could be spun into gold, and she grew more and more frightened, until at last she began to weep3. But all at once the door opened, and in came a little man, who said, “Good evening, mistress miller, why are you crying so?” “Alas,” answered the girl, “I have to spin straw into gold, and I do not know how to do it.” “What will you give me,” said the manikin, “if I do it for you?” “My necklace,” said the girl. The little man took the necklace, seated himself in front of the wheel, and whirr, whirr, whirr, three turns, and the reel was full. Then he put another on, and whirr, whirr, whirr, three times round, and the second was full too. And so it went on until the morning, when all the straw was spun, and all the reels were full of gold. By daybreak4 the king was already there, and when he saw the gold he was astonished and delighted, but his heart became only more greedy5. He had the miller’s daughter taken into another room full of straw, which was much larger, and commanded her to spin that also in one night if she valued her life. The girl knew not how to help herself, and was crying, when the door opened again, and the little man appeared and said, “What will you give me if I spin that straw into gold for you?” “The ring on my nger,” answered the girl. The little man took the ring, again began to turn the wheel, and by morning had spun all the straw into glittering6 gold. The king rejoiced beyond measure at the sight, but still he had not gold enough. He had the miller’s daughter taken into a still larger room full of straw, and said, “You must spin this, too, in the course of this night, but if you succeed, you shall be my wife.”

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Even if she be a miller’s daughter, thought he, I could not nd a richer wife in the whole world. When the girl was alone the manikin came again for the third time, and said, “What will you give me if I spin the straw for you this time also?” “I have nothing left that I could give,” answered the girl. “Then promise me, if you should become queen, to give me your rst child.” Who knows whether that will ever happen, thought the miller’s daughter, and, not knowing how else to help herself in this strait 7, she promised the manikin what he wanted, and for that he once more spun the straw into gold. And when the king came in the morning, and found all as he had wished, he took her in marriage, and the pretty miller’s daughter became a queen. A year after, she brought a beautiful child into the world, and she never gave a thought to the manikin. But suddenly he came into her room, and said, “Now give me what you promised.” The queen was horror-struck, and offered the manikin all the riches of the kingdom if he would leave her the child. But the manikin said, “No, something alive is dearer 8 to me than all the treasures in the world.” Then the queen began to lament and cry, so that the manikin pitied her. “I will give you three days’ time,” said he. “If by that time you nd out my name, then shall you keep your child.” So the queen thought the whole night of all the names that she had ever heard, and she sent a messenger over the country to inquire9, far and wide, for any other names that there might be. When the manikin came the next day, she began with Caspar, Melchior, Balthazar, and said all the names she knew, one after another, but to everyone the little man said, “That is not my name.” On the second day she had inquiries made in the neighbourhood as to the names of the people there, and she repeated to the manikin the most uncommon and curious. Perhaps your name is Shortribs, or Sheepshanks, or Laceleg, but he always answered, “That is not my name.” On the third day the messenger came back again, and said, “I have not been able to nd a single new name, but as I came to a high mountain at the end of the forest, where the fox and the hare bid each other good night, there I saw a little house, and before the house a re was burning, and round about the re quite a ridiculous little man was jumping. He hopped upon one leg, and shouted: ‘Today I bake, tomorrow brew, the next I’ll have the young queen’s child. Ha, glad am I that no one knew that Rumpelstiltskin I am styled.’” You may imagine how glad the queen was when she heard the name. And when soon afterwards the little man came in, and asked, “Now, mistress queen, what is my name?” At rst she said, “Is your name Conrad?” “No.” “Is your name Harry?” “No.” “Perhaps your name is Rumpelstiltskin?” “The devil has told you that! The devil has told you that,” cried the little man, and in his anger he plunged his right foot so deep into the earth that his whole leg went in, and then in rage he pulled at his left leg so hard with both hands that he tore himself in two.

7. 8.

9.

1097 words

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Can We Tell Right from Wrong?

49

Comprehension and Discussion Reect

on the immoral actions of each character in the story. If these immoral actions are supposed to teach us a lesson, what lesson did you learn? With a partner, ll in the chart with your answers.

Character

Immoral Action

Lesson Learned

1. The miller

2. The king

3. The miller’s daughter

4. Rumpelstiltskin

L iterary Device SYMBOLISM Symbolism is a literary device where a word or phrase can have several layers of meaning. This meaning may be concealed at rst sight. The attentive reader gets pleasure out of interpreting the meaning of these symbols, which then adds another layer of meaning and interest to the story itself.

Discuss these questions with your partner. 1. According to you, what is the signicance and importance of the symbol of the name in this story? Why is Rumpelstiltskin the only character to have a name?

2. The number three appears several times throughout this fairy tale and is an important symbol in many fairy tales. Find these references and discuss.

Read “Escarpment Blues” by Sarah Harmer in the Anthology section on page 157 for more practice.

Between the Lines 1. What kind of man was the king? How do his actions and requests compare to those of Rumpelstiltskin’s? 2. What is your impression of the miller’s daughter? Was she honest and fair in her dealings with the manikin? What would you have done in her situation? 3. Is Rumpelstiltskin a good man or a bad man? Were his requests reasonable? Explain. 4. Who is the real villain in this story? Explain your answer.

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UNIT 3 Morality

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Creative Writing Write a fairy tale and share it with your classmates. Choose one of these creative writing options.

Idioms related to honesty can be practised online.

1. Write your own fairy tale that teaches a moral lesson to the reader. 2. Update and modernize your favourite fairy tale. Adapt it for a young adult audience, taking into consideration a more “modern” moral compass.

Idioms Honesty Would you stretch the truth to save your skin? Learn these useful idioms and expressions related to honesty and telling the truth. Complete each idiomatic expression with a verb from the word box. Then match the expression with its denition.

Idiom

to be to lead to lie to make to pull to save

to see to shed to stretch to tell to turn to win

Meaning

1.

through your teeth

a. to pretend not to see an undesirable situation

2.

a pack of lies

b. to say one lie after another

3.

a mountain out of a molehill

c.

4.

a fast one

d. to succeed in an honest way, within the rules

5.

the truth

e. to openly and intentionally not tell the truth

6.

fair and square

f.

7.

full of hot air

g. to exaggerate the severity of a situation

8.

a blind eye

h. to deceive someone by making them believe something which is not true

9.

light on

i.

to successfully deceive someone

10.

eye to eye

j.

to clarify something

11.

up the garden path

k. to agree with someone

12.

face

l.

to say something that is not entirely true

to talk nonsense

to do something to rescue one’s honour or reputation

Create a short dialogue between two quarrelling siblings with a partner. Use as many idioms as you can. Sister: Come on Randall, you know I won the game fair and square. Stop pretending that you won. Brother: You are so full of hot air. You know I won the game. Don’t you have eyes? Sister: You are lying through your teeth and you know it. If I had known you were such a spoilsport, I wouldn’t have agreed to play with you in the rst place.

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LISTENING

The (Honest) Truth about Dishonesty

In which situations would you lie? Dan Ariely, author of the New York Times bestseller The (Honest) Truth about Dishonesty, explains why we can all be dishonest sometimes.

Discussion 1. In which situations do you think it is acceptable to lie? 2. Who or what could inuence you to do something you know is bad or immoral? 3. In which situations do you lie to yourself?

Vocabulary Listen for the following words and expressions related to morality and honesty. Try to guess their meaning based on the context in the audio segment.

Expression

Meaning

1. to cheat (v.) 2. to steal (v.) 3. to scrutinize (v.) 4. to get away with (exp.) 5. forgiveness (n.) 6. conict of interest (exp.) 7. biased (adj.)

Comprehension Listen to the audio segment again and answer these questions. 1. Which two contradictory actions do humans try to do simultaneously? a. b. 2. How does rationalization affect our honesty? Complete these sentences. If we can rationalize to a higher degree,

If we rationalized less,

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3. Dan Ariely explains research he did about cheating in society. Listen carefully and ll in the chart below.

Number of People in the Study

Number of Big Cheaters

Amount of Money the Big Cheaters Stole

Number of Little Cheaters

Amount of Money the Little Cheaters Stole

Conclusion to the study:

4. What is funny or ironic about the joke the speaker tells about Johnny, who stole a pencil from school?

5. According to the author, why do people almost never leave a restaurant without paying, but have no problem downloading books or music illegally?

6. What gets people to cheat less? Check the ndings mentioned. Reminders of morality and values

Being optimistic

Going to church

Asking for forgiveness or opening a new page

7. How can conicts of interest make us biased? Listen carefully and explain the author’s ideas in your own words.

8. How does this “conict of interest” idea help explain the corruption behind the nancial crisis in the US?

Between the Lines According to the author, Dan Ariely, “we all have the capacity to be quite bad.” Explain his opinion on honesty. Do you agree or disagree with him?

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SPEAKING

Grammar Link PAST TENSES When speaking about past events or situations, use different past tenses. Use the simple past to express the idea that an action started and nished at a specic time in the past. Use the past progressive to indicate that a longer action in the past was interrupted. Use the past perfect to express the idea that something occurred before another action in the past. Last year, at prom, while I was walking onto the dance oor, my high heels caught in my dress and I fell on my back. As if that wasn’t enough to ruin my night, a few minutes before, I had seen my boyfriend irting with another girl. Refer to REAL 3 Grammar Reference and Practice, units 1 and 2, and to appendix 6 on page 136 for a list of irregular verbs.

Lie Detector

Now that you know more about dishonesty, it is time to play the lie detector game with your classmates.

Prepare two true stories (of things that really happened to you) and one false story to tell your classmates. Then try to guess which of your classmates’ stories are untrue. 1. Write the details of your three stories on a separate sheet. 2. Form groups of three to four students. Each group member tells his or her three stories. 3. Take turns asking the presenter questions to try to discover which story is untrue. Pay attention to the “tells” your classmates use when they are being untruthful!

READING

FOR STRATEGY • SKIMMING AND SCANNING

What happens when we decide to tell the truth? Is it better to blow the whistle or just mind your own business? This Maclean’s magazine article, featuring Edward Snowden, explains the sacrices whistleblowers have to make to reveal the truth.

Discussion 1. What is a whistleblower? 2. Can you think of any famous whistleblowers? Explain what they did, and the repercussions of their actions. 3. Would you blow the whistle on your colleagues or classmates, and in which situations?

Skimming and Scanning Skim the article on pages 56–57 to nd the main idea. Refer to the How To on page 55 to help you. 1. Write the main idea of the article in one or two sentences.

Scan the article to nd this information. 1. How old is Snowden? 2. How much did he earn at his previous job? 3. How many whistleblowers attempted to commit suicide in the study? 4. Name two industry lies that whistleblowers have uncovered and revealed to the public.

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Focus on Language: Past Perfect 1. Scan the article on pages 56–57 and highlight all the examples of the past perfect. Did you nd ten? 2. Analyze two of the examples you found. Why does the author use the past perfect? Explain your analysis of the language by referring to the rules for using the past perfect.

How To SKIM AND SCAN Skimming is a useful way to get a general idea of a text before you read it. • Move your eyes quickly through the whole text, reading the title and the rst line of every paragraph. • Look briey at the illustrations or photos. • Don’t stop for details or to look up unfamiliar words in a dictionary.

Vocabulary Match each word or expression with its correct denition before you read. The line number is in parentheses. 1. to hail (v., 2)

a. to divorce or separate

2. a whistleblower (n., 2)

b. difcult life conditions

3. to leak (v., 5)

c. to talk freely about a public issue

4. to take a hit (exp., 25)

d. state of being without value

5. worthlessness (n., 31)

e. a person who gives information about illegal actions

6. to split up (exp., 37)

f. to restrain from exercising free speech

7. hardships (n., 45)

g. to acclaim, to approve enthusiastically

8. to speak out (exp., 53)

h. to take action

9. to gag (v., 56)

i.

to disclose

j.

to lose money

10. to come forward (exp., 61)

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Scanning is a useful way to read for specic facts and details. We all practise the technique of scanning when we look up a word in a dictionary. • Move your eyes quickly over the text until you nd the specic piece of information you are looking for.

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What Science Tells Us about Whistle­ blowers like Edward Snowden

By Julia Belluz Maclean’s

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Edward Snowden speaks in a WikiLeaks video, October 11, 2013, Moscow, Russia 20

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Did you know that Edward Snowden’s life and whistleblowing story are going to be adapted into a lm by the Academy Award-winning director Oliver Stone? Stone, who also directed Platoon, JFK, and W, says that “this is one of the greatest stories of our time.”

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dward Snowden is remarkable in many ways. At 29, the Maryland native has already been hailed “one of America’s most consequential whistleblowers.” A community-college graduate, Snowden rose from National Security Agency (NSA) security guard to a computer whiz, with the world’s most private information at his ngertips. He left his home in heavenly Hawaii, and a $200 000-a-year job, all to leak classied documents about America’s Orwellian surveillance project in the name of democracy. But Edward Snowden is unremarkable in many ways, too. According to the scientic literature on whistleblowers (yes, this is an area of study), Snowden is tidily representing the portrait of the whistleblower that has been painted by researchers. Like Snowden, who has been described as quiet and shy, whistleblowers tend to be introverted types. They are typically male, and rather ordinary men at that, who nd themselves in extraordinary situations. Research on whistleblowers suggests they are responding to a higher calling, a sense of duty and justice. Similarly, Snowden has said he did not speak up about the NSA’s systematic spying on citizens for fame or retaliation. As he put it: “I’m willing to sacrice all of that because I can’t in good conscience allow the US government to destroy privacy, Internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they’re secretly building.” Looking ahead, research can tell us what Snowden may face in the coming months and years. In particular, this study from 1993 is telling. The author looked at 35 Australian men and women from various occupational backgrounds who had uncovered harms to the public. “Although whistleblowing is important in protecting society,” the report reads, “the typical organizational response causes severe and long-lasting health, nancial, and personal problems for whistleblowers and their families.” All but one study participant had been victimized for speaking out, and most took a nancial hit. An American report on whistleblowers found that a majority experienced retaliation—harassment from their bosses and peers, verbal abuse—and, like Snowden, lost their jobs as a result of their decision to go public. That’s not to mention the awful health consequences they suffered. The whistleblowers in the Australian study had “difculty in sleeping, anxiety, panic attacks, depression, suicidal thoughts, and feelings of guilt and worthlessness.” Two subjects had actually attempted suicide, and 15 ended up on prescription drugs they weren’t taking before to alleviate these symptoms. “Fifteen subjects thought that they had been damaged as a person by the experience, 13 felt strengthened, and six felt both damaged and strengthened.” Another American study found that many sought psychiatric help after whistleblowing. The negative effects were not conned only to the whistleblower; spouses and kids suffered, too. Some marriages split up and children “had been adversely affected by divorce and forced separation of their parents, disrupted education, anxiety, insecurity, and stress; poverty, public attacks on the parent’s image; anger and loss of faith…” The list goes on. There’s some debate in the literature about whether these small case studies truly represent the realities of the whistleblowing experience. But there’s one area where the research seems to be unequivocal: informants generally do not regret their actions and say they would whistleblow again if they were given the chance. Part of the reason for this is rationalization. “It would be difcult to acknowledge a mistake in judgment,” one study reads, “given the extraordinary hardships that they (and their families) have endured.” Plus, it helps that their work often results in much-needed systems change, which brings us to our last lesson: as much as the health sciences can tell us about whistleblowers,

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whistleblowers can also tell us about what’s going on in the health sciences. Simply put: We need more Snowdens in health. Think of the brave doctors and researchers who exposed Big Tobacco’s lies about smoking, the health impact of the oil sands or hidden side effects of drugs. Their actions saved thousands, if not millions, of lives. And yet, for every one of them, there are probably thousands of doctors who will not speak out against incompetent colleagues and probably as many researchers who see corruption and abuses of science in their work every day, but choose to stay silent. If there are physicians who are concerned enough to speak to media, many hospitals now routinely gag doctors in Canada. If there are reporters intrepid enough to seek out hidden information through access-to-information requests, many of our national health agencies (such as Canadian Blood Services and the Canadian Institute for Health Information) cannot be subject to them. Those that can (Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada) are notoriously difcult to extract information from. So we are left to rely mostly on whistleblowers, people like Snowden, to come forward for a healthier society, at no small cost to themselves. The problem is, whistleblowers are few and far between, while corruption in the health system, professionals who harm patients and rotten research may not be as rare as we’d like to think. 837 words

Read the article and take detailed notes in the space provided. Guiding Questions

Your Notes

1. Who is Snowden?

2. What did he do?

How To WRITE A SUMMARY

3. Why did he do this?

4. How is he “typical”?

5. What consequences will he face in the future? 6. Do you think he will regret his actions one day? 7. What is the author’s point of view on whistleblowers?

When you summarize a text, you restate the main ideas and important details in a short form, using your own words. 1. Before you write your summary, reread the text very carefully to make sure you fully understand the main points and important details. 2. Take notes as you read and use your notes to write your summary. (See the notetaking chart on this page.) 3. Begin your summary by identifying the title of the article, the author’s name, and the main message of the article. 4. Then explain or describe each of the important details in logical order.

Focus on Summary Writing

5. Use your own words as much as possible, but don’t include your ideas or opinions.

Write a summary of the article “What Science Tells Us about Whistleblowers like

6. When quoting from the original text, use quotation marks.

Edward Snowden.” Your summary should be about two hundred words. Refer to your notes to help you write the summary. Reproduction prohibited © TC Media Books Inc.

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57

Topic Files Write a text or give an oral presentation on one of the following topics. Try to incorporate the elements from the Make the Connection box and use as many of the Top Words as you can.

Make the Connection Grammar Link: Past tenses ................... 54 Vocabulary for whistleblowing ............ 55 Idioms related to honesty ......................... 51 Pronunciation: Silent letters ................. 47 Strategies: Understanding meaning through word analysis .............. 41 Skimming and scanning ....................... 55 Literary Device: Symbolism ................... 50 Writing: Summary writing ........ 57 Refer to the Writing Files on page 129 for information on essays. Refer to appendix 2 on page 179 for information on oral presentations.

1 2 3

MORAL DECLINE: Do you agree that your generation is less moral than previous ones?

4 5

DISHONESTY: What factors inuence people to be dishonest? In what situations are people more inuenced to act immorally?

6

OTHER: Choose another topic linked to what you learned in this unit. Make sure to have the topic approved by your teacher.

THE ORIGINS OF MORALITY: Where does our moral code come from: do we learn it, are we born with it, or is it a bit of both? FAIRY TALES: Compare two versions of the same fairy tale: the original version with a more recent version. How has the story evolved and how does this reect the evolution in our moral code of conduct?

WHISTLEBLOWERS: Research a famous whistleblower and describe what they did, why they did it, and the impact this action had on them and on society. Are we better off knowing what they revealed?

Top Words Put a check mark next to the words and expressions you know. Use the page numbers to nd the other words in the unit and review their meaning. Add to the list new words you want to remember. Nouns

Verbs

Expressions

achievement (42)

truthfulness (42)

to gag (57)

decency (41)

virtue (41)

to leak (56)

conict of interest (52)

fairness (42)

whistleblower (54)

forgiveness (52)

to come forward (57)

wisdom (42)

to scrutinize (52)

humility (42)

worthlessness (56)

to get away with (52) to speak out (57)

kindness (41)

Other:

Vocabulary from the unit and other theme-related vocabulary can be practised online.

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Social Activism Social ActivismActi

4 Social Activism Social ActivSocial Activism SOCIAL ACTIVISM

UNIT

Social Activis Social Activism

Are You an Activist?

How we can make a difference in the world

ism

How has social media affected activism? What can an individual do to improve the world? What would you sacrifice in order to save the environment? What is the role of music in activism? In this unit, you will learn about social activism and how small changes can make all the difference. Reproduction prohibited © TC Media Books Inc.

THE BALL IS IN YOUR COURT Are You an Activist?

WARM-UP

What Is Social Activism?

Activism is dened as an effort to promote, prevent, or direct any type of positive change, be it political, economic, or environmental. Although activism tends to typically embody non­ violence, such as political campaigning, boycotts, rallies, marches, strikes, and even writing letters to newspapers, the unfortunate reality is that it is often accompanied by violence and tragedy, as history shows us. How well do you know the history of social change?

Test your knowledge of social activism with a classmate. Take turns reading the answers below and guessing the questions by using the clues from the box. When you nish, create two more questions and answers, on a separate sheet, to test out on another team.

Clues Adbusters

Arab Spring

Malala Yousafzai

Gabriel Nadeau­Dubois

PETA

Stephen Biko

Tiananmen Square

Edward Joseph Snowden

Iron Curtain

Greenpeace

Wind of Change

Martin Luther King Jr.

Answers 1. This student leader who founded the Black Consciousness Movement during the apartheid era in South Africa is considered a martyr. Who was Stephen Biko? 2. In 1968, this person was assassinated for his political beliefs on freedom and equality.

3. In this square in Beijing, China, the student protests of 1989 resulted in many deaths.

4. In 2011, this group’s ad featured a nude Italian superstar, Elisabetta Canalis, to expose cruelties of the animal fur trade.

5. The Internet helped spread this revolution that started in 2010.

6. In 2011, Occupy Wall Street was initiated by this Canadian group.

7. This student was among a thousand arrested for their role in the Maple Spring protests against tuition hikes in 2012.

8. In 2012, this teenaged activist was shot for supporting education and women’s rights in Pakistan.

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9. In 2013, two Canadian activists, Alexandre Paul and Paul Ruzycki, were detained by Russia for more than three months for their work with this organization.

10. This whistleblower collected top-secret documents about the National Security Agency‘s (NSA) surveillance practices which he later leaked to newspapers in 2013.

11. This hit song from the Scorpions celebrates the end of the Cold War and was the tenth best-selling single of all time in Germany.

12. After World War II and until the Cold War, this curtain separated Europe.

Students have dominated many activist movements and protests in the world, from China’s May 4th movement in 1919 to the Arab Spring in December 2010, and the Maple Spring of 2012. They demonstrated in Kiev during the Orange Revolution in 2005 and were involved in Serbia’s Colour Revolution in 2000, the Rose Revolution in Georgia in 2003, and the Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan in 2005, to name a few.

Discussion 1.

What were some the consequences of these protests or movements for the individuals who participated? Do you think social activists think about the possible consequences of their actions before they act?

2.

Do you think some of the changes wouldn’t have happened without the use of technology? Explain.

3.

Which current social causes have been in the news recently? Are you supporting any of them? Why or why not?

Vocabulary for activism can be practised online.

Vocabulary for Activism To speak or write about activism, make sure to review these commonly confused words. Be careful of their noun forms. A demonstration (n.) is a public show of displeasure or support where people often rally together for the same cause. Noun: The student demonstrators set up camp in front of Parliament. The demonstrations were peaceful. Verb: They demonstrated peacefully to show their support for the activist. Note: This term is used rather than the term manifestation, which is a Gallicism. A protest (n.) is an expression or declaration of objection, disapproval, or dissent. Verb: MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) protested against the judge’s lenient sentence. Noun: The protest was against higher student fees. Protesters took to the streets. Note: Police were at the protest.

(Police were at the protestation.)

A strike (n.) is a unied stopping of work or withdrawal of services in order to make a point of an issue. Noun: The nurses’ strike lasted two weeks. Expression: They went on strike after the new bill was passed. To picket (v.) means to gather outside an establishment to prevent employees or clients from entering, to show their dissatisfaction with an issue. Verb: Teachers picketed with signs in front of the college. Noun: The workers could not cross the picket line.

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READING

FOR STRATEGY AND INTERACTION • IDENTIFYING BIAS

History has shown us how people protested in great numbers for important causes such as the civil rights movement. But what can we say about today’s activism and the role that social media plays? The following blog analyzes activism in the past and present.

Vocabulary Circle the correct denition for each word or expression before you read the article. 1. to gather (v.)

a. to disperse or send away

b. to bring together in a group

2. to engulf (v.)

a. to increase

b. to plunge or immerse

3. midst (n.)

a. middle

b. clouds or fog

4. upheaval (n.)

a. strong disturbance

b. heavy load

5. platform (n.)

a. web browser

b. specic computer operating system

6. seldom (adv.)

a. often

b. rarely

7. to be held accountable (exp.)

a. to answer to a higher authority

b. to be arrested

Small Change

By Malcolm Gladwell The New Yorker

Why the revolution will not be tweeted

A freshmen (n.) rst year university students 5

Read the article “Malala Yousafzai” online to learn about the young Pakistani social activist whose courage has touched and astonished the world.

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UNIT 4 Social Activism

t 4:30 in the afternoon on Monday, February 1, 1960, four college students sat down at the lunch counter at the Woolworth’s in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina. They were freshmen at North Carolina A. & T., a black college a mile or so away. “I’d like a cup of coffee, please,” one of the four, Ezell Blair, said to the waitress. “We don’t serve Negroes here,” she replied. The Woolworth’s lunch counter was a long L-shaped bar that could seat 66 people, with a stand-up snack bar at one end. The seats were for whites. The snack bar was for blacks. Another employee, a black woman who worked at the steam table, approached the students and tried to warn them away. “You’re acting stupid, ignorant!” she said. They didn’t move. Around 5:30 p.m., the front doors to the store were locked. The four still didn’t move. Finally, they left by a side door. Outside, a small crowd had gathered, including a photographer from the Greensboro Record. “I’ll be back tomorrow with A. & T. College,” one of the students said. By next morning, the protest had grown to 27 men and four women, most from the same dormitory as the original four. On Wednesday, students from Greensboro’s “Negro” secondary school, Dudley High, joined in, and the number of protesters swelled to eighty. By Thursday, the protesters numbered three hundred, including three white women, from the Greensboro campus of the University of North Carolina. By Saturday, the sit-in had reached six hundred. People spilled out onto the street. White teenagers waved Confederate ags.

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By the following Monday, sit-ins had spread to Winston-Salem, 25 miles away, and Durham, 50 miles away. By the end of the month, there were sit-ins throughout the South, as far west as Texas. “I asked every student I met what the rst day of the sit-downs had been like on his campus,” the political theorist Michael Walzer wrote in Dissent. “The answer was always the same: ‘It was like a fever. Everyone wanted to go.’” Some seventy thousand students eventually took part. Thousands were arrested and untold thousands more radicalized. These events in the early 1960s became a civil-rights war that engulfed the South for the rest of the decade—and it happened without email, texting, Facebook, or Twitter. The world, we are told, is in the midst of a revolution. The new tools of social media have reinvented social activism. When ten thousand protesters took to the streets in Moldova in the spring of 2009 to protest against their country’s Communist government, the action was dubbed the Twitter Revolution, because of the means by which the demonstrators had been brought together. Where activists were once dened by their causes, they are now dened by their tools. But there is something else at work here, in the outsized enthusiasm for social media. Fifty years after one of the most extraordinary episodes of social upheaval in American history, we seem to have forgotten what activism is. What makes people capable of this kind of activism? The Stanford sociologist Doug McAdam compared the Freedom Summer dropouts with the participants [who continued to protest], and discovered that the key difference wasn’t, as might be expected, ideological fervor. All the volunteers were required to provide a list of personal contacts—the people they wanted kept apprised of their activities—and participants were far more likely than dropouts to have close friends who were also going to Mississippi. High-risk activism, McAdam concluded, is a “strong-tie” phenomenon. The kind of activism associated with social media isn’t like this at all. The platforms of social media are built around weak ties. Twitter is a way of following (or being followed by) people you may never have met. Facebook is a tool for efciently managing your acquaintances, for keeping up with the people you would not otherwise be able to stay in touch with. That’s why you can have a thousand “friends” on Facebook, as you never could in real life. This is in many ways a wonderful thing. There is strength in weak ties, as the sociologist Mark Granovetter has observed. Our acquaintances—not our friends—are our greatest source of new ideas and information. But weak ties seldom lead to high-risk activism. The Civil Rights Movement was high-risk activism. It was also, crucially, strategic activism: a challenge to the establishment mounted with precision and discipline. At the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the unquestioned authority. At the centre of the movement was the black church, as Aldon D. Morris points out in his superb 1984 study, “The Origins of the Civil Rights Movement.” Morris writes, “Individuals were held accountable for their assigned duties, and important conicts were resolved by the minister, who usually exercised ultimate authority over the congregation.” Boycotts and sit-ins and nonviolent confrontations—which were the weapons of choice for the Civil Rights Movement—are high-risk strategies. If Martin Luther King, Jr., had tried to do a Wiki-boycott in Montgomery, he would have been steamrollered by the white power structure. And of what use would a digital communication tool be in a town where 98 per cent of the black community could be reached every Sunday morning at church? The things that King needed in Birmingham—discipline and strategy—were things that online social media cannot provide. Clay Shirky, who teaches at New York University, sets out to demonstrate the organizing power of the Internet, and he begins with the story of Evan, who worked on Wall Street, and his friend Ivanna, after she left her smart phone, an expensive Sidekick, on the back seat of a New York City taxicab. She and Evan discovered that the Sidekick was now in the hands of a teenager from Queens, who was using it to take photographs of herself and her friends. He set up a web page with her picture and a description of what had happened. He forwarded the link to his friends, and they forwarded it to their friends. “By this point

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sit-ins (exp.) organized passive protests in a public place

dubbed (v.)

named

Freedom Summer (n.) 1964 campaign in Mississippi to register as many African-American voters as possible

steamrollered (v.) by force

bullied down

Are You an Activist?

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Listen to “How Cyber-Attacks Threaten Human Rights Groups” online to learn about computer espionage attacks on civil society organizations. 80

millions of readers were watching,” Shirky writes, “and dozens of mainstream news outlets had covered the story.” Sasha was arrested, and Evan got his friend’s Sidekick back. Shirky’s argument is that this is the kind of thing that could never have happened in the pre-Internet age—and he’s right. Shirky ends the story of the lost Sidekick by asking, portentously, “What happens next?”—no doubt imagining future waves of digital protesters. But he has already answered the question. What happens next is more of the same. A networked, weak-tie world is good at things like helping Wall Streeters get phones back from teenage girls. Viva la revolución. 1104 words

Comprehension Read the article and answer the questions. Rosa Parks is well-known for refusing to yield her seat on a Montgomery bus, but did you know she was not the rst African-American to do so? Fifteen-year-old Claudette Colvin was arrested nine months before Parks was jailed for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger.

1. What important fact does Gladwell point out about the 1960s Civil Rights Movement? Circle the correct answer. a. The activists used non-violent means like sit-ins. b. The entire movement happened without social media. c. Some seventy thousand students eventually took part. d. Thousands were arrested and untold thousands more were radicalized. 2. Is activism easier these days? Support your answer with one of the examples mentioned in the article.

3. What denes present-day activists, according to Gladwell? Restored bus Rosa Parks rode on December 1, 1955

4. a. What is a “strong-tie” phenomenon? Give an example from the article.

b. Are the weak ties necessarily negative? Explain. Do they lead to high-risk activism?

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5. Besides being high-risk activism, what other two elements does Gladwell tell us about the Civil Rights Movement? a.

b.

6. What weapons did the Civil Rights Movement prefer to make use of? Were they effective?

7. What does Gladwell say is the redeeming quality of social media activism? Support your answer.

How To IDENTIFY BIAS 8. What is the thesis statement of the article? Circle the correct answer. a. The world, we are told, is in the midst of a revolution. b. Where activists were once dened by their causes, they are now dened by their tools. Facebook warriors go online to push for change. c. Fifty years after one of the most extraordinary episodes of social upheaval in American history, we seem to have forgotten what activism is. d. There is strength in weak ties. Our acquaintances are our greatest source of new ideas and information. 9. Is the author biased? Decide if these sentences from the article are objective or subjective by checking the correct column next to each statement.

Sentences from the Article 1. Some seventy thousand students eventually took part. (line 23) 2. Facebook is a tool for efciently managing your acquaintances, for keeping up with the people you would not otherwise be able to stay in touch with. (line 45) 3. If Martin Luther King, Jr. had tried to do a Wikiboycott in Montgomery, he would have been steamrollered by the white power structure. (line 60) 4. The things that King needed in Birmingham— discipline and strategy—were things that online social media cannot provide. (line 63)

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Objective

Subjective

All writing contains a certain degree of bias. Some writers may try to appear objective by presenting facts. However, to correctly identify an author’s point of view, you must look for evidence of bias. To do so, it is important to recognize objective and subjective writing. 1. Ask yourself if the author’s points are objective (facts) or subjective (opinions). Although both sides of an argument may be present, the author may mostly lean toward one side. 2. Does the author refer to an authoritative source for support? Verify if this source is mostly in favour of the argument being presented. 3. Is the author simply trying to inform or entertain the reader or is the author trying to sway an opinion by using convincing or persuasive language? Check for strong statements that sound judgmental or condemning or that minimize the opposing viewpoint.

Are You an Activist?

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10. Underline all the ashback segments in the article. How did you feel when you were reading them?

11. How well did these ashbacks help Gladwell make his point?

Martin Luther King Jr. Mural at the National Historic Site in Atlanta, GA

L iterary Device FLASHBACKS A ashback is a literary device that the author uses to make reference to the past. Authors use ashbacks to provide the reader with more background information and to support the present context. Example: At 4:30 in the afternoon on Monday, February 1, 1960, four college students sat down at the lunch counter at the Woolworth’s in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina. (line 1) Here, the author takes the reader back to a turbulent time in history. We can almost feel the tension of the moment.

Between the Lines From the title of the blog alone, one could probably assume that the author of the article may be slanted or biased. Think about what you learned about bias as you answer these two questions. 1.

After reading the article, do you think Gladwell is biased? How much so? Support your answer.

2.

At the end of the article, Gladwell predicts “more of the same” for the social media activists. Do you agree or disagree?

Discussion and Writing

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UNIT 4 Social Activism

1.

What was the most important protest or social activist movement from the past? What kind of change resulted from it?

2.

Think of any recent protests or demonstrations. Was social media involved? Were you involved somehow? If not, what stopped you?

3.

Which cause do you believe in strongly enough to organize a demonstration, and how would you go about it?

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SPEAKING

A Debate on Social Activism

We can agree that activism brings about important changes in society. But is activism warranted in every situation?

Debate a topic related to social activism with a partner. Read these statements and choose one to defend. • Activists should be held accountable for breaking the law, no matter what.

Speakers’ Corner in London’s Hyde Park is a venue for public speakers who are free to speak and debate open-air style. Its location used to be the gallows where public executions took place. The felons were given the opportunity to express any nal words.

• Individual changes do not make a difference in the grand scheme of themes. • Children should be taught how to protect the environment early on in school. • Social activists can change the world we live in.

Grammar Link PRESENT AND PAST MODALS

1. Determine if you are for or against the statement you chose.

Past and present modals have several functions, such as giving advice and making suggestions. They are especially useful in debates. A modal is an auxiliary verb which, when added to a main verb, expresses one of the following:

2. Research facts and statistics to support your position. 3. Prepare a refutation against your opponent’s position. 4. Include convincing language in your debate.

Focus on Language: Present and Past Modals Complete each sentence with the appropriate modal according to the function

Ability: I can see what you mean, but …

provided. Vary your choices of modals as much as possible.

Polite requests: Could you please elaborate?

1. You (possibility, have) without really knowing any of them.

Advice: We should not deviate from the point.

2. You (advice, dismiss, negative) where activism is concerned.

a thousand friends on Facebook the strengths of social media

3. Facebook is a tool for managing your acquaintances, for keeping up with the people you (condition, be, negative)

able to stay in touch with otherwise.

4. Gladwell believes we (obligation, look) movement. 5. You (possibility, get) donor registry.

back to the civil rights thousands of people to sign up for a

6. Twitter is a way of following people you (possibility, have) never met. 7. (polite request, you, explain) and strong-tie phenomena? 8. We (advice, look)

the difference between weakat both sides of the issue.

Condition: More people would get involved if … Possibility: That might be true, but … Obligation: We must rst consider … A present modal is followed by the base form of the verb, not the innitive. Note that modals do not take an -s in the third-person singular. Everyone should get involved. (Everyone shoulds to get involved.) A past modal is followed by have plus the past participle of the main verb. The activist must have helped raise awareness. They might have been at the protest. Refer to REAL 3 Grammar Reference and Practice, unit 3.

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Idioms Idioms for activism and social change can be practised online.

Activism and Social Change There are many idioms devoted to the subject of change. How many are you familiar with? Complete each idiomatic expression with the missing word(s).

1. to take a …

a. in with the new

2. out with the old and …

b. stand

3. to pave …

c. difference

4. all talk and …

d. ball

5. get the … rolling

e. mountains

6. to move …

f. no action

7. to … things up

g. the way (for something)

8. winds of …

h. course

9. to change …

i. change

10. to make a world of …

j. shake

11. making …

k. the current

12. swim against …

l. waves

All of these expressions signify a change except for one. Which is it?

London protesters march against worldwide government corruption, London, UK, March 1, 2014

Discussion Discuss with a partner ve ways you could help make a difference in the world. Use idiomatic expressions about social change.

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LISTENING

Sustainable Joes

How can two downtown roomies make a difference in the world by living off the grid? What do they try to live without? Listen to this CBC interview and nd out.

Vocabulary Match each word or expression with its correct denition before you listen. 1. to head out (exp.)

a. refreshing

2. to rig (v.)

b. awareness

3. invigorating (adj.)

c. to echo or resound

4. outlet (n.)

d. to assemble

5. sustainable (adj.)

e. internal

6. to resonate (v.)

f.

7.

mindfulness (n.)

8. inherent (adj.)

to leave or exit

g. place on a wall to plug in electrical appliances h. capable of being maintained

Comprehension Listen to the interview and answer these questions. 1. How do you think the Sustainable Joes can manage? Could you live off-grid? Complete the chart below.

Living without:

How do the Joes live without these?

How would you live without these?

a. hot water for showers

b. a fridge

c. a stove

d. electricity

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69

2. What are their reasons for living off-grid? Circle all the answers you hear. a. to save money for university

c. to show that the average person could do it

b. to make a difference in the world

d. to inuence others

3. What was the motivation behind this unusual choice of lifestyle? Complete the memorable quote that Dave mentions.

The quote is “Leave only

.”

4. What do the roomies say is their biggest challenge? Complete the chart below.

Dave

Stephen

5. How do Dave and Stephen replace the following? Complete the chart below.

TV and Entertainment

Lights

6. How close are Dave and Steve to achieving their goals?

7. Why did they opt for the name Sustainable Joes?

8. What future dream do the Sustainable Joes have?

Discussion 1. How much of an impact could the Sustainable Joes’ individual changes actually make? 2. What would you miss the most if you lived off the grid? 3. Is it realistic to live off-grid in the winter? Explain.

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Pronunciation Sentence Stress/Intonation In English, certain words in a sentence receive greater stress or emphasis than others. This is also called intonation. Listen to the paragraph below. Pay special attention to the underlined words. These words are emphasized. Shannen Koostachin was a Cree from James Bay in Ontario. She campaigned for safe schools and Aboriginal education until she died in a car accident at age fteen. She was nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize. A lm was made about Shannen and a social justice campaign called Shannen’s Dream was formed to improve funding for education for First Nations children. Did you notice which words receive the stress? What can you generalize about them? Generally, content words such as serbs, nouns, adjectives, and adverbs are stressed or emphasized. Negatives and some question auxiliaries are stressed as well. But function words, that is, prepositions, conjunctions, and determiners, are not stressed. Listen carefully to the eight underlined words in the dictation below and decide if they are stressed by putting a check mark ( ) next to the word. Put an ( X ) if the word is not stressed. After you nish, listen to the paragraph to verify your answers. Compare answers with a partner. )1,

Shannen was an activist (

but would you consider her a superhero? DC Comics author, Jeff Lemire, is (

) 2 working

on a new superhero team called Justice League Canada, that will (

) 3 include a female

First Nations character based on Shannen. He hasn’t (

)4

decided on the character’s specic superpowers. He’ll be taking ( (

) 5 submissions from

) 6 students. Will there be

cultural (

)7 strengths? “Oh

yes,” he says. And “family ties, the knowledge of the land, the rich, rich symbolism of the (

) 8 Cree on James

Bay.”

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™and © DC Comics

Koostachin and Jeff Lemire’s rendition of her superhero character

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READING

FOR CHALLENGE

A lot of issues with the environment arise from our modern habits of excess and overconsumption. But how can we clean up our act? The following narrative essay describes one man’s choice to live without money and consumerism.

Vocabulary March to support action on global climate change, Oslo, Norway, September 21, 2014

Find a word or expression in the article that corresponds with each denition before you read. Write the word or expression beside each denition. The line number is in parentheses. 1. planted (v., 10) 2. encountered accidentally (exp., 11) 3. slightest, smallest (adj., 12) 4. something that helps you advance your goal (exp., 15) 5. was full of (exp., 15) 6. person who uses a commodity or service (n., 25) 7. unconscious (adj., 25) 8. refuge or dwelling place, safe from the elements (n., 33) 9. saved something which would have been lost (v., 42) 10. place where garbage is buried (n, 46) 11. search for food and supplies (v., 70) 12. trading by exchange of commodities or services (v., 75)

My Year of Living without Money

By Mark Boyle The Guardian

I 5

meltdown (n.) bailouts (n.)

72

crisis nancial rescues

UNIT 4 Social Activism

s it possible to live without spending any cash whatsoever? After becoming disillusioned with our consumer society, one man decided to give it a try. The morning I nally decided to give up using cash, the whole world changed. It was the same day news broke about the banks’ misbehaviour in the sub-prime mortgage market, so when I began telling people of my plans, they assumed it was in preparation for some sort of apocalyptic nancial meltdown. However, having long viewed credit as a debit against future generations, I was innitely more worried about what George Monbiot called the “nature crunch.” Nature, unfortunately, doesn’t do bailouts.

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10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

I suppose the seeds of my decision to give up money—not just cash but any form of monetary credit—were sown seven years ago, in my nal semester of a business and economics degree in Ireland, when I stumbled upon a DVD about Gandhi. He said we should “be the change we want to see in the world.” Trouble was, I hadn’t the faintest idea what change I wanted to be back then. I spent the next ve years managing organic food companies, but by 2007, I realized that even “ethical business” would never be quite enough. The organic food industry, while a massive stepping stone to more ecological living, was rife with some of the same environmental aws as the conventional system it was trying to usurp—excess plastic packaging, massive food miles, big businesses buying up little ones. My eureka moment came during an afternoon’s philosophizing with a mate. We were chatting about global issues such as sweatshops, environmental destruction, factory farms, animal testing labs, wars over resources, when I realized I was looking at the world the wrong way—like a western doctor looks at a patient, focusing on symptoms more than root causes. Instead, I decided to attempt what I awkwardly term “social homeopathy.” I believe the key reason for so many problems in the world today is the fact we no longer have to see directly the repercussions of our actions. The degrees of separation between the consumer and the consumed have increased so much that people are completely unaware of the levels of destruction and suffering involved in the production of the food and other “stuff” we buy. The tool that has enabled this disconnection is money. If we grew our own food, we wouldn’t waste a third of it as we do today. If we made our own tables and chairs, we wouldn’t throw them out the moment we changed the interior decor. If we had to clean our own drinking water, we wouldn’t waste it so freely. As long as money exists, these symptoms will surely persist. So I decided, last November, to give it up, for one year initially, and reconnect directly with the things I use and consume. The rst step in the process was to nd a form of sustainable shelter. For this I turned to the amazing project Freecycle, through which I located a caravan that someone else didn’t want any more. I also needed somewhere to put this new home, so I decided to volunteer three days a week at an organic farm near Bristol in return for a place to park my caravan. Had I equated this in terms of my previous salary, it would be like paying penthouse apartment rent for what was effectively a little tin box. But that was the type of thinking I was now trying to get away from. Having no means of paying bills, the next challenge was to set this home up to be offgrid. For heating I installed a wood-burner I’d converted from an old gas bottle, using a ue pipe I had salvaged from the skip. I fuelled it using wood from trees we coppiced on the farm, meaning fuel miles became fuel metres. A local member of the Freeconomy Community (the alternative economy which I founded in 2007) then showed me how to make a “rocket stove” from a couple of old olive oil catering tins that were destined for landll. This meant that for the next 12 months, I was going to have to cook outside. I was a touch overwhelmed by the thought of cooking in the snow, rain and northerly winds of a British winter. But, surprisingly, it has become one of the joys of my life. While feeding the stove with broken-up old vegetable boxes, I would watch the moon rise in winter and the sun set in summer for the time it took to prepare my evening’s repast. Birds in the trees around my kitchen became my new iPod, and observing wildlife taught me much more about nature than any documentary I’d seen on the television. The one thing I did spend money on before beginning the experiment was a solar panel to supply me with enough electricity for a light, my laptop and my phone (on which I could only receive calls). The solar panel has always provided me with light—although in winter my phone and laptop time were severely restricted (frustrating, but only because my expectations were based on having innite energy at the touch of a button). The last piece of my off-grid puzzle was a compost toilet. As I can no longer buy toilet roll, I relieve the local Bristol newsagents of some of the newspapers that ll their bins every day, and use them instead. It’s not double-quilted but it quickly seems normal, and I even used a story about myself once …

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sweatshops (n.) factories employing workers at low wages and under poor conditions

The Freecycle network is a nonprot movement run entirely by volunteers which encourages the exchange of free stuff. Its mission is to reduce landlls by having people reuse things in order to and ultimately reduce waste. penthouse (n.) apartment on the highest oor of a building

skip (n.)

boat

coppiced (v.) grow quickly

repast (n.)

cut to make them

meal

Are You an Activist?

73

soapwort (n.) plant whose leaves are used for cleaning cuttlesh (n.)

65

squid

swede (n.) plant with an edible bulbous root

70

75

80

85

mates (n.) (British)

colleagues or friends 90

I wash in a river or under a solar shower (better in the summer), and rarely use soap, but if I do I go for home-grown soapwort. For toothpaste I use a mixture of cuttlesh bone, which gets washed up on the UK’s shores, and wild fennel seeds. Food was my only other real necessity: I think of there being four legs to the foodfor-free “table.” Growing your own, which is obviously what I’ve been doing here on the organic farm (my staples are potatoes, beans, kale, carrots, salads, root vegetables, squash, onions and swede); wild food foraging, which is nutritionally exceptional and beautifully gentle on the environment (I forage for berries, nettles, mushrooms, nuts and greater plantain for a hayfever remedy); and also securing waste food and other goods from local restaurants and shops. This is an incredible resource to draw on, and although its existence is, of course, dependent on industrialized society, I feel like I have an obligation to consume it before using up any more energy producing food. The nal leg of my food table is bartering—using my skills or any excess food I’ve produced to secure anything not met by the other three methods. This means I meet people from all walks of life doing what I do, and while many claim that they couldn’t—or wouldn’t want to—do the same, most seem to understand where I am coming from and resolve to reduce their own consumption wherever they can. When I rst said I was going to do this, my parents probably wondered what they should have done differently during my formative years, but now they are right behind it, and may even contemplate joining me one day. But what I soon realized is that, in a moneyless world, everything takes much more time. Handwashing my clothes in a sink of cold water, using laundry liquid made by boiling up some nuts on my rocket stove, can take two hours, instead of ten minutes using a washing machine. The point is, I’d much rather have my time consumed making my own bread outdoors than kill it watching some reality TV show in a so-called “living” room. Where money once provided me with my primary sense of security, I now nd it in friends and the local community. Some of my closest mates are people I only met because I had to build real relationships with others based on trust and kindness, not money. 1327 words

Comprehension Read the essay on pages 72–74 and answer the questions. 1. What initially prompted Mark Boyle to give up money?

2. Does Boyle think money is the root of all evil? Explain.

3. What is the solution to wasting our earth’s resources, according to Boyle?

74

UNIT 4 Social Activism

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WATCHING

Music and Activism around the Globe

Throughout history, music has played an “instrumental” role in activism. Music has the power to create solidarity and bring about the emotions connected to a cause. The music may change over time, but its role has not diminished. Watch Huffpost Live’s Ahmed Shihab-Eldin’s recent interview with Nusrat Durrani, MTV’s senior VP and General Manager, about the series called Rebel Music, which highlights the various ways music is a catalyst for activism and social change.

Vocabulary Find the denitions of these words before you watch the interview. 1. off the bat (exp.) 2. go hand in hand (exp.) 3. shorthand (n.) 4. broken them down (exp.) 5. an ointment (n.) 6. a balm (n.) 7. a common thread (exp.)

Comprehension Watch the video and answer these questions. 1. Complete the sentences with the words you hear. Before the revolution we were like zombies, not scared to

. People are

themselves anymore.

2. According to Nusrat Durrani, MTV’s senior VP and General Manager, is it true that American audiences don’t care about global issues? Support your answer.

3. What is the problem with media coverage of global events? Circle your answer. a. Current events are usually delivered by older people.

Group of people playing music to protest education cuts, Madrid, Spain, July 19, 2012

b. We never hear real people’s stories. c. The news rarely talks about the youth. d. All of the above statements are true.

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77

4. What is the goal of the MTV series Rebel Music, according to Nusrat Durrani?

5. What questions about youth does the series seek to answer? Write two of the ve questions.

6. What does MTV hope to accomplish by telling the stories of the youth? Complete the statements with the words you hear. Our attempt is to make those countries foreign

. And to make the

.

7. What will watching the MTV series help its audience realize?

8. What connection do revolutions around the world seem to show?

9. a. How does Nusrat Durrani dene music? Write ve of the eight answers you hear.

b. Some of the answers are metaphors. Give one example.

10. How was music commonly used in the revolutions in the six countries visited?

11. Why is music such a powerful tool? Support your answer with examples from the interview, naming two countries.

A Guitarmy is a group of protesters who express themselves through music while participating in marches or demonstrations.

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UNIT 4 Social Activism

12. What countries or regions will be presented in the six-part MTV series? Name ve of the seven mentioned.

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Discussion 1. How important is music, in your opinion? Explain. 2. What are the top three songs on your portable media player? Why do you like them? 3. If you had a worthy cause to ght for, what theme song would you choose for it?

SPEAKING

Music to Die For

Music has an instrumental role in social activism. Many songs have been written in order to support change or to protest deplorable conditions and human rights violations.

A protester from Guitarmy plays music during Occupy Wall Street “May Day” protests, New York, NY, May 1, 2012

Present a song associated with social activism. 1. Present the song and the social activism associated with it. 2. Name the songwriters and musicians. Did/Do they participate in any social activism? 3. Analyze the song lyrics and show which parts of the song reect the protest or change. 4. Explain how the song encourages people to take action.

The Weakerthans are a Canadian indie rock band. The band apparently got its name from a line of the 1992 lm The Lover: “Go ahead, I’m weaker than you can possibly imagine.” The song “Pamphleteer” is from the album Left and Leaving.

Read the lyrics to this song about activism.

Pamphleteer

By The Weakerthans

I 5

10

15

’m standing on this corner. Can’t get their attention. Facing rush hour faces turned around. I clutch my stack of paper, press one to a chest, then watch it swoop and stutter to the ground. I’m weary with right-angles, abbreviated daylight, and waiting for a winter to be done. Why do I still see you in every mirrored window, in all that I could never overcome? How I don’t know what I should do with my hands when I talk to you. How you don’t know where you should look, so you look at my hands. How movements rise and then dissolve, melted by our shallow breath. How causes dance away from me.

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20

25

I am your pamphleteer. I walk this room in time to the beat of the Gestetner, contemplate my next communiqué. The rhetoric and treason of saying that I’ll miss you. Of saying “Hey, well maybe you should stay.” Sing “Oh what force on earth could be weaker than the feeble strength of one” like me remembering the way it could have been. Help me with this barricade. No surrender. No defeat. A spectre’s haunting Albert Street. I am your pamphleteer.

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79

Topic Files Write a text or give an oral presentation on one of the following topics. Try to incorporate the elements from the Make the Connection box and use as many of the Top Words as you can.

Make the Connection Grammar Link: Present and past modals ......... 67 Vocabulary and idioms for activism and social change ....... 61, 68 Pronunciation: Sentence stress/ Intonation ..................... 71 Strategy: Identifying bias................................. 65 Literary Device: Flashbacks .................... 66 Writing: Writing an argument essay .......... 76 Writing a refutation paragraph..................... 76 Refer to the Writing Files on page 129 for information on essays. Refer to appendix 2 on page 179 for information on oral presentations.

1 2 3 4

MY GENERATION OR YOURS? Is your generation more or less involved in social activism than the previous generation? Is activism easier today than ever before?

5 6

FOR THE LOVE OF MONEY: Should we return to a cashless society? Does money dene you? What does it reveal about you?

CLICK “LIKE”: Are you a Facebook activist? Do you know someone who is? Write about which cause you are supporting or have supported in the past and why. BLACKOUT: Describe a time in your life when the power went out. What happened and how did you deal with the loss of electricity? SUSTAINABLE JOSEPH OR JOSEPHINE: Go off-grid from some of your favourite technology for a short amount of time and write about your experience. Is this something you could continue long-term?

OTHER: Choose another topic linked to what you learned in this unit. Make sure to have the topic approved by your teacher.

Top Words Put a check mark next to the words and expressions you know. Use the page numbers to nd the other words in the unit and review their meaning. Add to the list new words you want to remember. Adjectives

Nouns

Verbs

Expressions

inherent (69)

consumer (73)

to barter (74)

invigorating (69)

demonstration (61)

to engulf (62)

to be held accountable (62)

sustainable (69)

landll (73)

to forage (74)

to head out (69)

unaware (73)

midst (62)

to gather (62)

to go on strike (61)

mindfulness (69)

to resonate (69)

protest (61)

to rig (69)

shelter (73)

to salvage (73)

Adverb seldom (62)

upheaval (62) warriors (65)

Other:

Vocabulary from the unit and other theme-related vocabulary can be practised online.

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Perspectives Perspectives

5 Perspectives Perspectives Perspectives PERSPECTIVES

UNIT

Perspectives Perspectives

What’s Behind Your Story?

Lessons we learn from the stories of others

Does a story benefit both the teller and the listener? What makes a story compelling or intriguing? How does poetry inspire us? What can we learn about life through the stories of others? In this unit, you will discover the art of storytelling and how it can impact people’s lives. Reproduction prohibited © TC Media Books Inc.

WALK A MILE IN MY SHOES What’s Behind Your Story?

WARM-UP

What Is a Picture Worth?

There are many ways to tell a story, through poetry, prose, or other media, even images. Do you think you know the story behind these famous photographs?

Look at each photo and discuss with a partner what you think was taking place to produce such powerful reactions. Use the guided questions to help you. Then read the photo descriptions at the bottom of the page and determine who was closest to the truth.

1. Why is this soldier so emotional?

3. What did this boy experience for the rst time? What is his reaction?

2. Why are these people reuniting?

4. What do these two people have in common? Where are they going?

4. Tanisha Blevin, age ve, holds 105-year-old Nita LaGarde’s hand as they are being evacuated from a convention centre. Both were in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina struck. 3. A young deaf boy, Harold Whittles, reacts upon hearing for the rst time after doctors insert an earpiece into his left ear. 2. Journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling, who were arrested and sentenced to twelve years of hard labour in North Korea, are nally reunited with their families in California after the US intervened to free them. 1. Major Terri Gurrola is reunited with her daughter after serving in Iraq for seven months.

Answers

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UNIT 5 Perspectives

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Discussion 1. Is a picture worth a thousand words? Explain. 2. Do you have a photo that you cherish? Describe the photo and tell the story behind it. 3. What is your favourite story of all time? How did you hear about it? 4. What do you think are the benets of storytelling? Explain.

Vocabulary for Storytelling Review these commonly confused words about storytelling. Be careful of the double meaning of some of the words.

Vocabulary for storytelling can be practised online.

A history (n.) is a narrative of past events relating to a particular people, country, period, or person, usually written as a chronological account. A story (n.) is a true or ctional narrative, in the form of prose or verse, which informs the listener. To relate (v.) is to tell or give an account of something (such as an event or circumstance). It also means to establish a link. To relay (v.) means to transmit, as in a message. I relayed the important message to the director. To say (v.) is used in indirect speech to report something and can be followed by that. It is followed by a subject pronoun (unless it precedes to). He said that we were on the news. What did the teacher say to us? To tell (v.) is used to report information and is often followed by an object pronoun or an object + an innitive. Tell is also used in idioms such as to tell the truth, to tell the difference, to tell time.

An embedded or framed story is a story that is told within a story. One example is found in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein where the narrator, Captain Robert Walton, writes letters to his sister telling her the story that makes up the novel. Another well-known example in literature is the story of Queen Scheherazade telling stories to the Persian king in order to save her life in One Thousand and One Nights.

She told me what had happened. The teacher told the students to behave.

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83

READING

FOR INTERACTION

Why do people enjoy being curled up with a good book or entranced in a friend’s captivating story? Read an article about scientic studies on this matter to discover their ndings.

Grammar Link

Discussion

COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES

Prepare a story to tell as a group before you read the article. It could be a personal

Comparatives are used to compare two people, groups, or things, and superlatives are used to compare more than two people, groups, or things. To form comparatives and superlatives:

experience that happened to you or to someone you know, or a story you read or heard about. It could be funny, sad, or even surprising. Take turns reading your group’s story to the class.

Complete the chart below while listening to the other groups’ stories. Write three adjectives to describe each story you hear. Rate each story and vote for your favourite story as a group. Then write your idea of what makes a good story and share it with another group. Are your ideas similar or different?

Comparatives Most adjectives and adverbs with one syllable: Add -er + than. His story was shorter than mine. He nished sooner than you. Most adjectives and adverbs with two or more syllables: Add more / less + than. I found her story more interesting than his. She reads her notes less often than you. Superlatives

Adjectives to Describe the Story Group 1’s story

Intriguing

Example: Humorous

Shocking

Rating (/10): _______

Group 2’s story Rating (/10): _______

Group 3’s story Rating (/10): _______

Most adjectives and adverbs with one syllable: Add the + -est. His story was the hardest to tell. She talked the fastest.

1. Your group’s idea on what makes a good story:

Most adjectives and adverbs with two or more syllables: Add the most / the least. It was the most fascinating tale I’ve ever heard. You spoke the least nervously of all.

2. Another group’s idea:

Note: Some comparatives and superlatives have irregular forms. It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.

3. How do they compare?

Refer to REAL 3 Grammar Reference and Practice, unit 7.

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Vocabulary Find the word or expression in the article that corresponds to the denition before you read. The line number is in parentheses. 1. based on guessing, not on information or facts (adj., 5) 2. to be unable to stop or avoid doing something (exp., 7) 3. credible, believable (adj., 9) 4. uninteresting, tedious (adj., 16) 5. narratives or stories (n., 25) 6. become extinct (exp., 29) 7. containing the largest amount of things or people close together (adj., 34) 8. altered in order to deceive (adj., 38) 9. manufactured or made (v., 50) 10. shocking, surprising (adj., 53)

Can Science Explain Why We Tell Stories?

Listen to “The Persuasive Power of Storytelling” to learn how storytelling can be life saving, as well as help shape what we buy.

By Adam Gopnik The New Yorker

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tories, more even than stars or spectacle, are still the currency of life, or commercial entertainment, and look likely to last longer than the euro. There’s no escaping stories, or the pressures to tell them. And so the pathetic story-pitcher turns to pop science—to Jonathan Gottschall’s new book, The Storytelling Animal, for instance—for some scientic, or at least speculative, ideas about what makes stories work and why we like them. Gottschall’s encouraging thesis is that human beings are natural storytellers— that they can’t help telling stories, and that they turn things that aren’t really stories into stories because they like narratives so much. Everything—faith, science, love—needs a story for people to nd it plausible. No story, no sale. But this claim, itself hardly momentous, then opens onto something sadly like a forced march of the platitudes: We all like stories. When we don’t have a story we make one up— that’s why the juxtapositions of lm editing work. People usually like stories to have “morals” at the end.

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currency (n.) something that is widely used and accepted by people

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neurons (n.)

nerve cells

neural pathways (n.) parts of the nervous system’s connections

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20

backstabbing (exp.) causing harm

secretly 25

ill-will (n.) hostile feelings, malevolence groom (v.)

clean or tend 30

specious (adj.) supercially appearing good or plausible sop (n.) something not very important used to prevent people from complaining or protesting

tally (v.)

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add up, count 40

In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the Ghost says to him: “I could a tale unfold whose lightest word Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood, Make thy two eyes like stars start from their spheres, Thy knotted and combined locks to part, And each particular hair to stand on end Like quills upon the fretful porpentine” porpentine (n.)

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The interesting questions about stories, which have, as they say, excited the interests of readers for millennia, are not about what makes a taste for them “universal,” but what makes the good ones so different from the dull ones, and whether the good ones really make us better people, or just make us people who happen to have heard a good story. Do entertaining stories make us more ethical? “The only way to nd out is to do the science,” Gottschall says, reasonably enough, and then announces that “the constant ring of our neurons in response to ctional stimuli strengthens and renes the neural pathways that lead to skillful navigation of life’s problems” and that the studies show that therefore people who read a lot of novels have better social and empathetic abilities, are more skillful navigators, than those who don’t. He insists that storytelling is adaptive, on strictly Darwinian terms, but surely this would only have meaning if he could show that there were human-like groups who failed to compete because they didn’t trade tales—or even that tribes who told lots of stories did better than tribes that didn’t. Are societies, like that of Europe now, which has mostly rejected religious storytellers, less prosperous and peaceful than ones, like Europe back when, that didn’t? Would a human-like society that had no stories die out? When has this happened? And if these claims seem almost too large to argue, the more central claim—that stories increase our empathy, and “make societies work better by encouraging us to behave ethically”—seems too absurd even to argue with. Surely if there were any truth in the notion that reading ction greatly increased our capacity for empathy then college English departments, which have by far the densest concentration of ction readers in human history, would be legendary for their absence of backstabbing, competitive ill-will, factional rage, and egocentric self-promoters; they’d be the one place where disputes are most often quickly and amiably resolved by mutual empathetic engagement. It is rare to see a thesis actually falsied as it is being articulated. Robin Dunbar’s Grooming, Gossip, and the Evolution of Language, from a few years back, for instance, had a thesis and a sharp one: that primates groom each other not to pick out nits, which do not really trouble them, but as a form of gossip, a way of exchanging social information—who grooms who for how long tells who’s up and who’s down. We started talking as a way of gossiping and grooming each other and, indeed, to this day, almost all talk, before it is communication, is gossip and grooming: “He said what?!” “They red who?” We have to invent very natural unnatural situations—classrooms where everyone faces front, usually under the threat of more or less brutal discipline—to get people to use language for learning outside the gossip-context. This thesis may or may not be true, but it has the excitement of a theory that surprises: it’s a good story. And it is exactly in that excitement that the real relation of stories and science might be found. Good stories are strange. What strong scientic theories, even those crafted in pop form, have in common with good stories is not some specious universality. It’s that they make claims so astonishing that they seem instantly very different from all the other stories we’ve ever heard. Good stories are startling. It is the shock good stories offer to our expectations, not some sop they offer to our pieties, that makes tales tally, and makes contes count. The story that tells us only that we like all kinds of stories lacks that excitement, that exclusionary power, which is the only thing that makes us want to hear stories at all. 802 words

porcupine

L iterary Device METAPHOR A metaphor is a gure of speech which, like a simile, compares two things that are alike in some way, but without using the words like or as. To identify a metaphor, look for complements of the verb be. Examples: “Books are the mirrors of the soul.” —Virginia Woolf “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances.” —William Shakespeare

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Idioms Idioms for storytelling can be practised online.

Storytelling There are various idiomatic expressions related to storytelling, which indicate if it is a sad story, an exaggeration, or even news. How many of these idioms are you familiar with?

another long

Complete the denition of each idiom with the appropriate word or expression from the box.

Idiom

same old

end of

sob

inside

stretch the truth

likely

make a long story short

Meaning

1. This story can make you cry

A

2. To exaggerate

To

3. An unbelievable story

A

4. To come out with the news

To

5. That’s beside the point

That’s

6. Something other people don’t know

The

7. It takes a lot of explaining

A

8. A story you’ve heard before

The

9. To explain briey

To

10. To refuse to talk about it further

break

story

story a story story story

story story

That’s the

the story!

Discussion Review the stories of the different groups in the discussion activity on page 87. Determine which types of stories were told using idioms; for example: Group 1 told a sob story.

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LISTENING

The Moth Storytelling

Part 1 The Moth Rekindles “Campre” Storytelling Does the art of storytelling need to be rekindled? Some people think so. CBC interviews The Moth’s Artistic Director, Catherine Burns, and Adam Gopnik, an author and staff writer at The New Yorker about The Moth Radio Hour.

Vocabulary Circle the correct denition for each word or expression before you listen. 1. a moth (n.)

a. a brownish winged insect

b. a legendary creature

2. neglected (adj.)

a. forgotten, overlooked

b. not important, uninteresting

3. a sensation (n.)

a. something that makes you feel uncomfortable

b. something that creates great interest

4. a veteran (n.)

a. an elderly person

b. a person with a lot of experience

5. riveting (adj.)

a. very twisted and irregular

b. so exciting that you cannot stop watching or listening

6. stakes are high (exp.)

a. something is very valuable

b. something is very risky or unsafe

George Dawes Green, poet, best-selling novelist, and founder of The Moth, used to share stories on his friends’ porches in his native Georgia. A hole in the screen let in moths, which were attracted to the light, so the group adopted the name The Moth. The Moth series eventually spread to cafés and clubs in New York City, and today it continues to draw its audience like moths to a ame.

Fill in the blanks with the words you hear. 1

Back in 1997,

and novelist George Dawes Green founded a 2

non-prot organization dedicated to the

art and craft of oral 3

storytelling. What started as a solitary endeavour to 4

group of people back to a 5

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time exploded dramatically into a

sensation. For

presented over 10 000

years The Moth has

stories from all walks of life, all delivered

to an audience, without the

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a small

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.

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Comprehension 1. What criteria are required to tell a Moth story? Circle all that apply. a. The teller must be a celebrity.

c. It should be a personal story.

b. The story must be worthy and true.

d. The story can be ctional.

2. What was artistic director Catherine Burns’ favourite Moth story? What two qualities made her enjoy the story?

3. What is the basic alchemy of storytelling that Adam Gopnik mentions? How does it impact the listener?

4. What other benets does storytelling have, according to Adam Gopnik? Explain.

Discussion

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1.

Which aspects of modern life do you think have contributed to our losing the art of storytelling?

2.

What could rekindle storytelling?

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Part 2 Take the Bull by the Horns Matteson Perry shares his personal story on CBC’s The Moth Presents. He captivates the audience with the thrilling tale of his adventures in Spain during its most famous festival.

Vocabulary Match each word or expression with its denition before you listen. 1. to go back and forth (exp.)

a. something that prevents you from doing something

2. narrow (adj.)

b. a long piece of material that can be used as a belt

3. cobblestones (n.)

c. thin, not wide

4. deterrent (n.)

d. to be undecided

5. napping (v.)

e. crouching in fear

6. a trance (n.)

f. an increase in number or movement

7. a sash (n.)

g. a semi-conscious state

8. a surge (n.)

h. stones used to make a road

9. hooves (n.)

i.

sleeping

10. cowering (v.)

j.

the feet of a bull or horse

Spain’s festival of San Fermín is held yearly on July 6, when over a million people participate in the weeklong traditional events, including the famous encierro, or running of the bulls. This event gathered international attention after being mentioned in Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises.

Comprehension 1. Write three of the six details you hear about Matteson Perry’s trip.

2. Which story inspired Perry to run with the bulls? a. “To Build a Fire” by Jack London b. The Dangerous Summer by Ernest Hemingway c. The Running Man by Stephen King d. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway 3. Why was he wavering about deciding to run with the bulls?

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4. How does the running of the bulls in Pamplona contrast with races in America?

5. Is this choice of behaviour typical of Perry?

6. What was ironic about his friend warning him to be careful?

7. Did he have previous knowledge about bulls?

8. How does he describe his experience when he believes the race is over?

9. What is the metaphor Perry uses to describe his experience in the bull arena after the race?

10. What impressed Perry about a man who was injured in the race?

11. What two qualities made this Moth story entertaining?

Men running from bulls during the San Fermin festival, Pamplona, Spain, July 14, 2013

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Focus on Language: The Historic Present 1. Analyze the choice of verb tense in this excerpt from the audio. Which verb tenses are used? The surge of people comes around the corner followed by the six gigantic bulls. And we take off running as hard as we can, people are pushing me, elbows are ying.

2. Why does the speaker use the historic present instead of past tenses as he recounts his experiences in Pamplona? Was it more effective in helping you follow the story and visualize the events?

3. Do you ever use the historic present to tell a story? Why?

Discussion

How To

1. Read the title on page 91: Take the Bull by the Horns. Determine if the meaning is literal or gurative by completing the chart.

Meaning

Literal Meaning

Figurative Meaning

To handle a bull To take control of a situation

2. Perry also uses the idiom: “Mess with the bulls and get the horns.” Does he mean it literally or guratively? Explain.

IDENTIFY LITERAL VS. FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE Literal language is interpreted concretely and does not deviate from its intended meaning. Figurative language, also known as “gures of speech,” includes idioms and literary devices such as metaphors, similes, and personication. It can represent something other than the original and true meaning of the words used.

Between the Lines 1. Matteson Perry mentioned an author whose story inspired him. Which literary work or story inspired you in some way? 2. Why did Matteson Perry think that running terried for nothing was some sort of life metaphor? 3. What movie could be a metaphor for your life or a life event of yours?

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READING

FOR STRATEGY • VISUALIZATION

You will now compare two short, startling poems, which consist of fabulous imagery, using the strategy of visualization.

How To VISUALIZE A TEXT Visualizing can improve comprehension and make a story or poem come alive. This requires the reader to actively engage by constructing mental images based on past experiences and prior knowledge.

Take turns slowly reading one of these poems aloud to a partner. As you hear the poem, try to envision what the author wants you to see. Visualize what you hear by making mental images in your mind, in order to better comprehend the author’s message. Poem 1

This Is a Photograph of Me

1. While reading or listening to a story or poem, pause after each sentence or verse and visualize the images that the author is trying to project. 2. Pay attention to descriptive language such as adjectives and adverbs that create a vivid image in your mind.

By Margaret Atwood

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3. Visualize the elements which the author leaves open to interpretation. 4. If a character is presented, try to imagine what he or she looks like: does the character remind you of someone you know or have seen?

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It was taken some time ago. At rst it seems to be a smeared print: blurred lines and grey ecks blended with the paper; then, as you scan it, you see in the left-hand corner a thing that is like a branch: part of a tree (balsam or spruce) emerging and, to the right, halfway up what ought to be a gentle slope, a small frame house.

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(The photograph was taken the day after I drowned. I am in the lake, in the centre of the picture, just under the surface.

20

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In the background there is a lake, and beyond that, some low hills.

It is difcult to say where precisely, or to say how large or small I am: the effect of water on light is a distortion but if you look long enough, eventually you will be able to see me.)

Poem 2 ecks (n.)

spots, specks

slope (n.)

incline

Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota By James Wright

ravine (n.) deep, narrow valley with steep sides hawk (n.) bird of prey with a curved beak and sharp talons

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Over my head, I see the bronze buttery, Asleep on the black trunk, Blowing like a leaf in green shadow. Down the ravine behind the empty house, The cowbells follow one another Into the distances of the afternoon. To my right,

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In a eld of sunlight between two pines, The droppings of last year’s horses Blaze up into golden stones. I lean back, as the evening darkens and comes on. A chicken hawk oats over, looking for home. I have wasted my life. Reproduction prohibited © TC Media Books Inc.

L iterary Device IMAGERY Imagery is a literary device used by the author to make the reader imagine what is being described as if he or she was there and experiencing it personally. Imagery can evoke any of the ve senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, or smell. An author’s use of imagery can help a reader construct a visual image or even imagine experiencing a taste, smell, or sound. Read these excerpts from literature and determine which sense is being evoked. 1. What happens to a dream deferred? ... Does it stink like rotten meat? (“Harlem” by Langston Hughes) 2. … like the roar of trees and crack of branches, common things—But nothing so like beating on a box (“Old Man’s Winter Night” by Robert Frost) 3. The bed linens might just as well be ice and the clothes snow. (“The Witch of Coos” by Robert Frost) 4. A host of golden daffodils; beside the lake, beneath the trees, uttering and dancing in the breeze. (“Daffodils” by William Wordsworth) 5. Forgive me, they were delicious, so sweet and so cold (“This Is Just to Say” by William Carlos Williams) Read “Saskatoon Bus Depot: 8 a.m. Sunday” by Lesley Choyce in the Anthology section on page 159 for more practice.

Comprehension and Discussion 1. Compare the two poems on page 94 by completing the chart. Refer to the Literary Device to help you.

Poem 1 “This Is a Photograph of Me”

Poem 2 “Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota”

a. Imagery used (ve senses)

b. Startling moment in the poem c. Personal reactions to the poem 2. Which poem left more of an impact on you? Why?

3. What questions do the poems leave you thinking about? Write three questions for each poem and then discuss them with a partner.

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Focus on Writing a Compare and Contrast Essay Refer to the Writing Files on page 129 for information on essays.

Write an essay that compares and contrasts the similarities or differences between two pieces of literature, for example, two poems or two versions of the same story. • Select two poems of similar length, subject, or genre or two stories of different media to make them easier to compare. • Analyze three main differences or similarities between the two. Use the basic essay structure, with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

How To WRITE A COMPARE AND CONTRAST ESSAY The purpose of a compare and contrast essay is to outline the similarities or differences between two pieces of literature, and to support these with details and examples. • Your thesis statement should be clearly stated in the opening paragraph. The reader needs to know what your point of view is. • Develop three or four elements to compare or contrast, and compare their connections in the body paragraphs. Each paragraph should contain a controlling idea that supports your point of view (which is stated in your topic sentence). • Use examples and details. Remember to give equal coverage to the elements you are comparing or contrasting in both works in order to prove, illustrate, or explain your topic sentence. • Use transition words to connect ideas, such as also, and, as well as, just as, likewise, and similarly to compare, and although, but, and however to contrast.

READING

FOR CHALLENGE

A lot of stories are perspectives on the author’s personal life experiences. In this excerpt of a novel by Lisa See, the narrator comes to a realization at a very young age which changes her outlook on life. In China, women communicated privately with a secret written language called nu shu, literally, women’s writing, which was kept hidden from men for a thousand years. Tradition has it that the emperor’s concubine, a young girl from the Hunan Province, invented it to secretly write to her family. Eventually nu shu developed a cult following among women in Yongming County (presently called Jiangyong County).

Vocabulary Look up the denition of these words and expressions from the text before you read. The line number is in parentheses. 1. to roam (v., 16) 2. so-so (adj., 22) 3. to vie (v., 34) 4. to disregard (v., 44) 5. to hold against (someone) (exp., 49) 6. to crave (v., 62) 7. to scold (v., 65) 8. to make matters worse (exp., 81)

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Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Read “An-Mei Tsu” online for the story about one character in Amy Tan’s bestselling novel The Joy Luck Club.

Chapter 1: The Milk Years By Lisa See

M 5

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y name is Lily. I came into this world on the fth day of the sixth month of the third year of Emperor Daoguang’s reign. Puwei, my home village, is in Yongming County, the county of Everlasting Brightness. Most people who live here are descended from the Yao ethnic tribe. From the storytellers who visited Puwei when I was a girl, I learned that the Yao rst arrived in this area twelve hundred years ago during the Tang dynasty, but most families came a century later, when they ed the Mongol armies who invaded the north. Although the people of our region have never been rich, we have rarely been so poor that women had to work in the elds. We were members of the Yi family line, one of the original Yao clans and the most common in the district. My father and uncle leased seven mou of land from a rich landowner who lived in the far west of the province. They cultivated that land with rice cotton, taro, and kitchen crops. My family home was typical in the sense that it had two stories and faced south. A room upstairs was designated for women’s gatherings and for unmarried girls to sleep. Rooms for each family unit and a special room for our animals anked the downstairs main room, where baskets lled with eggs or oranges and strings of drying chilies hung from the central beam to keep them safe from mice, chickens, or a roaming pig. We had a table and stools against one wall. A hearth where Mama and Aunt did the cooking occupied a corner on the opposite wall. We did not have windows in our main room, so we kept open the door to the alley outside our house for light and air in the warm months. The rest of our rooms were small, our oor was hard-packed earth, and, as I said, our animals lived with us. I’ve never thought much about whether I was happy or if I had fun as a child. I was a so-so girl who lived with a so-so family in a so-so village. I didn’t know that there might be another way to live, and I didn’t worry about it either. But I remember the day I began to notice and think about what was around me. I had just turned ve and felt as though I had crossed a big threshold. I woke up before dawn with something like a tickle in my brain. That bit of irritation made me alert to everything I saw and experienced that day. I lay between Elder Sister and Third Sister. I glanced across the room to my cousin’s bed. Beautiful Moon, who was my age, hadn’t woken up yet, so I stayed still, waiting for my sisters to stir. I faced Elder Sister, who was four years older than I. Although we slept in the same bed, I didn’t get to know her well until I had my feet bound and joined the women’s chamber myself. I was glad I wasn’t looking in Third Sister’s direction. I always told myself that since she was a year younger she was too insignicant to think about. I don’t think my sisters adored me either, but the indifference we showed one another was just a face we put on to mask our true desires. We each wanted Mama to notice us. We each vied for Baba’s attention. We each hoped we would spend time every day with Elder Brother, since as the rst son he was the most precious person in our family. I did not feel that kind of jealousy with Beautiful Moon. We were good friends and happy that our lives would be linked together until we both married out. “Girls!” Mama called up the stairs to us. “Beautiful Moon! Lily! Come here! Come here!” My aunt greeted us this way each and every morning. We ran to her. Aunt kissed Beautiful Moon and patted my bottom affectionately. Then Uncle swooped in, swept up Beautiful Moon in his arms, and kissed her. After he set her back down, he winked at me and pinched my cheek. My mother had yet to acknowledge that I was in the room. This is how it had been for as long as I could remember, but on that day I perceived and felt her disregard. Melancholy

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Tang dynasty (n.) golden age in Chinese history (618–907 CE)

anked (adj.)

on both sides of

hearth (n.) oor or lower part of a replace

bound (adj.) tied up, wrapped tightly with cloth swooped (v.) suddenly

came down

The ancient and painful Chinese tradition of binding feet was considered highly fashionable and was required by any girl who wanted to be married. The custom of wrapping a young girl’s feet started at age four or ve and required the toes to be bent under the foot and be tied with long ribbons from then on. This resulted in small, deformed feet, known as “lotus feet,” and bones were broken to prevent the feet from growing larger than about three inches.

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45

50

55

60

65

tottered (v.) to fall

walked as if about 70

sidled up (exp.) approached slowly and quietly 75

congee (n.) Chinese rice porridge eaten for breakfast 80

ornery (adj.) irritable

unreasonable, 85

90

limbs went akimbo (exp.) arms and legs ung out widely or haphazardly 95

sank into me, whisking away the joy I had just felt with Aunt and Uncle, stunning me with its power. Then, just as quickly, the feeling disappeared, because Elder Brother, who was six years older than I was, called me to help him with his morning chores. Having been born in the year of the horse, it is in my nature to love the outdoors, but even more important I got to have Elder Brother completely to myself. I knew I was lucky and that my sisters would hold this against me, but I didn’t care. When he talked to me or smiled at me I didn’t feel invisible. We ran outside. Elder Brother hauled water up from the well and lled buckets for us to carry. We took them back to the house and set out again to gather rewood. We made a pile, then Elder Brother loaded my arms with the smaller sticks. He scooped up the rest and we headed home. When we got there, I handed the sticks to Mama, hoping for her praise. After all, it’s not so easy for a little girl to lug a bucket of water or carry rewood. But Mama didn’t say anything. Even now, after all these years, it is difcult for me to think about Mama and what I realized on that day. I saw so clearly that I was inconsequential to her. I was a third child, a second worthless girl, too little to waste time on until it looked like I would survive my milk years. She looked at me the way all mothers look at their daughters—as a temporary visitor who was another mouth to feed and a body to dress until I went to my husband’s home. I was ve, old enough to know I didn’t deserve her attention, but suddenly I craved it. I longed for her to look at me and talk to me the way she did with Elder Brother. But even in that moment of my rst truly deep desire, I was smart enough to know that Mama wouldn’t want me to interrupt her during this busy time when so often she had scolded me for talking too loudly or had swatted at the air around me because I got in her way. Instead, I vowed to be like Elder Sister and help as quietly and carefully as I could. Grandmother tottered into the room. Her face looked like a dried plum, and her back bent so far forward that she and I saw eye to eye. “Help your grandmother,” Mama ordered. “See if she needs anything.” Even though I had just made a promise to myself, I hesitated. Grandmother’s gums were sour and sticky in the mornings, and no one wanted to get near her. I sidled up to her, holding my breath, but she waved me away impatiently. I moved so quickly that I bumped into my father—the eleventh and most important person in our household. He didn’t reprimand me or say anything to anyone else. As far as I knew, he wouldn’t speak until this day was behind him. He sat down and waited to be served. I watched Mama closely as she wordlessly poured his tea. Aunt put bowls on the table and spooned out the congee, while Mama nursed the baby. After we ate, my father and my uncle set out for the elds, and my mother, aunt, grandmother, and older sister went upstairs to the women’s chamber. I wanted to go with Mama and the other women in our family, but I wasn’t old enough. To make matters worse, I now had to share Elder Brother with my baby brother and Third Sister when we went back outside. I carried the baby on my back as we cut grass and foraged for roots for our pig. Third Sister followed us as best she could. She was a funny, ornery little thing. She acted spoiled, when the only ones who had a right to be spoiled were our brothers. She thought she was the most beloved in our family, although nothing showed her that this was true. Mama ran out of yarn and stood up to get more. For a moment she stayed very still, staring pensively at nothing. I had a nearly uncontrollable desire to run into her arms and scream, See me, see me, see me! But I didn’t. Mama’s feet had been badly bound by her mother. Instead of golden lilies, Mama had ugly stumps. Instead of swaying when she walked, she balanced herself on a cane. If she put the cane aside, her four limbs went akimbo as she tried to maintain her balance. Mama was too unsteady on her feet for anyone ever to hug or kiss her. “Isn’t it time for Beautiful Moon and Lily to go outside?” Aunt asked, cutting into my mother’s daydream. “They could help Elder Brother with his chores.” “He doesn’t need their help.” “I know,” Aunt admitted, “but it’s a nice day—” 1571 words

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Comprehension

How To

1. What is the setting of the story on pages 97–98?

IDENTIFY SETTING The setting of a story identies and establishes the time of the events for the reader to situate.

2. What can we gather about the culture at the time from this sentence: “Although the people of our region have never been rich, we have rarely been so poor that women had to work in the elds”?

3. What does Lily mean in line 25 when she says that she felt as if she had “crossed a big threshold”?

Example: Aldous Huxley’s book, Brave New World, published in 1932, is set in a futuristic London, specically, in 632 AF, “After Ford,” where centuries earlier, civilization as we know it was destroyed in the Nine Years’ War.

Refer to Writing Files 4 The Response Essay, page 151, for information on how to identify setting.

4. What was of utmost importance to Lily and her siblings?

5. There is much evidence in the text of strong traditions. Complete the chart with examples of each tradition. The line number is in parentheses.

Traditions

Examples

a. Feng Shui (position of house and furniture) (line 12) b. Marriage (line 13)

c. Body alterations (line 30)

d. Astrology (line 47)

e. Gender and birth order (lines 35 and 58)

f. Respect for elders (lines 70 and 74)

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99

6. Is there evidence of sibling rivalry (competition between brothers and sisters)? Support your answer.

7. What did she learn about herself at the age of ve?

8. How did she react to this revelation? Explain.

9. Did she ever get over her feelings toward her mother? Support your answer.

10. What promise did she make? Did she keep it?

Between the Lines 1.

Why does Lily not refer to her sisters by name, yet she calls her cousin by name?

2. Describe the relationship between Lily and Third Sister.

100 UNIT 5 Perspectives

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WATCHING

Twelve

If you could go back and speak to your twelve-year-old self, what would you say? In this short NFB documentary, lmmaker Lester Alfonso, who emigrated from the Philippines when he was twelve, attempts to answer this question by interviewing immigrants who moved to Canada at age twelve.

Vocabulary Circle the correct denition for each word or expression before you watch. 1. a namesake (n.)

a.

a famous person one is named after

b. a nickname

2. to come out of the woodwork (exp.)

a.

to become obvious

b. to appear unexpectedly

3. mists (n.)

a.

clothes that are too loose or too tight

b. people who are not accepted into a group

4. sheer array (n.)

a.

impressive number or variety

b. small number or variety

5. an outt (n.)

a.

an ensemble of clothes

b. a burst of anger

6. a glimpse (n.)

a.

a lapse or space

b. a momentary look

7. to get under (one’s) skin (exp.)

a.

to know someone very well

b. to bother or annoy someone

8. in due time (exp.)

a.

eventually

b. as soon as possible

9. to take centre stage (exp.)

a.

to be the centre of attention

b. to receive

a.

time when a situation is about to change

b. crossroads or point of indecision

10. cusp (n.)

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Comprehension 1. What illness does Lester admit suffering from? Support your answer.

2. What is his namesake and why was it an issue for him as a new immigrant?

3. Why is he is obsessed with the age twelve?

4. Why does he decide to interview immigrants who arrived in Canada at the age of twelve?

5. Complete these sentences with what you hear. a. We are grown adults now but we still b. I have to dare myself 6. What does he believe about the need to belong, including attending festivals and gatherings?

7. According to Rolland from Hungary, what is the Michael Jackson syndrome? a. Being a child celebrity and having no real friends b. Being relocated every time you start making friends c. Having difculty tting into a new group of friends d. All of the above statements are true. 8. What advice does Rolland give? 9. What is Lester’s solution to his problem? Circle all the answers you hear. a. He has to step out of his bubble. b. He wants to talk to a younger version of himself. c. He can ask different twelve-year-olds the same question. d. He could look for clues, see how they are connected.

102 UNIT 5 Perspectives

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10. What was Iga’s experience of moving to Canada? Complete the chart. Country of origin and year she moved: Present job:

What she thought would help her t into Canada: Initial positive experience and how she felt: What she would say to her younger self: How she adapted to the move:

Grammar Link 11. What did Charlie, from Malta, nd most difcult initially? What would he advise his younger self?

CONDITIONALS Conditional sentences are used to show that if a particular condition or situation is true (the if-clause), then a particular result happens (the main clause). Conditionals can be used for situations in the present, future, or past.

12. What does Lester ultimately realize while making his lm?

1.1 For situations that are true, or for habits I try to read if I have the time. 1.2 For real or possible situations in the future If it starts raining, we won’t have a bonre tonight.

Discussion Take turns completing these statements with a partner. 1. If I could change one thing about myself, … 2. If money weren’t an object, … 3. If I could meet my future self, … 4. If I had only … 5. I wish I had never …

2. For unreal or hypothetical situations in the present If I won the writing competition, I would publish my novel. 3. For situations that never happened in the past, or for regrets If I had known you were such a great storyteller, I would have invited you to the storytelling competition. Refer to REAL 3 Grammar Reference and Practice, unit 3.

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Pronunciation Reductions and Contractions in Speech Native speakers of English commonly use reductions (I’m going to and contracted forms (I am I’m) when speaking.

I’m “gonna” )

Listen to the examples in the chart and pay attention to the reductions and contractions.

Verb Tense

Reductions and Contractions

Simple present Afrmative: I am, she/he/it is, we/you/ they are

I’m, she’s, he’s, it’s, we’re, you’re, they’re

Negative: I am not, she/he/it is not, you/ I’m not, she/he/it’s not, she/he/it isn’t, we/you/they’re not, we/you/they aren’t we/they are not Future with going to: I am going to, she/he/it is going to, we/you/they are going to

I’m/you’re/she’s/he’s/it’s/we’re/they’re going to (informally pronounced “gonna”)

Future with will: I/you/she/he/it/we will I’ll, you’ll, she’ll, he’ll, it’ll, we’ll, they’ll Negative: will not

won’t

Past perfect: I/you/she/he/it/we/they had (+past participle)

I’d, you’d, she’d, he’d, it’d, we’d, they’d (+past participle)

Present modals: I/you/she/he/it/we/they I’d, you’d, she’d, he’d, it’d, we’d, they’d would Negative: could not, should not, would not

couldn’t, shouldn’t, wouldn’t

Past modals: could have, should have, must have

could’ve, should’ve, must’ve

would have

would’ve OR I’d/you’d/she’d/he’d/we’d/ they’d have

Note: Do not use contractions at the end of a sentence. Will you go with me? – Yes, I will. (Yes, I’ll.)

104 UNIT 5 Perspectives

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Listen and write all the contractions you hear. Refer to the chart above if unsure of the spelling. to tell you about the traditions of Native storytelling.

1. 2.

not a surprise that many Native American tribes passed on oral stories from generation to generation.

3. Native stories often contain metaphors and are magical or spiritual. give you an example. The a mythical eagle, that created thunder and lightning by beating its wings. 4. Also, the

an omnipresent character in native legends. often an animal with human characteristics. be surprised to know the coyote was the most common

5. trickster in tales;

always try to upset the rules. help teach the listener what not to do, or how

6. to survive.

Share a legend or tale you’ve heard and use reductions and contractions when you speak.

SPEAKING

Tell Your Story

Everyone has a story to tell. Think about a memorable time in your or someone else’s life that you would like to share as an audio or video recording. Make sure your story has the elements of a good story which were mentioned in the Reading for Interaction activity on page 84 and in the listening activity on page 89. 1. Choose a story that will captivate your audience and that is meaningful to you. 2. If you choose to lm your story, use a location that enhances its quality. 3. Organize your story by preparing a good beginning. 4. Make sure the middle of your story is riveting or includes humour or suspense. 5. Wrap up your story with a memorable ending. 6. Use the most suitable verb tenses, for example, the historic present or past tenses. 7. Use contractions or reductions appropriately when speaking. Refer to Pronunciation on page 104.

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Topic Files Write a text or give an oral presentation on one of the following topics. Try to incorporate the elements from the Make the Connection box and use as many of the Top Words as you can.

Make the Connection Grammar Links: Comparatives and superlatives ..................... 84 Conditionals .................. 103 Vocabulary and idioms for storytelling ......... 83, 88 Pronunciation: Reductions and contractions ................... 104 Strategies: Identify literal vs. gurative language ....... 93 Visualize a text................ 94 Identify setting ............... 99 Literary Devices: Metaphor.......................... 86 Imagery............................. 95 Writing: Writing a compare and contrast essay ........ 96

Refer to the Writing Files on page 129 for information on essays. Refer to appendix 2 on page 179 for information on oral presentations.

1

WRITE A STORY: In small groups, write the beginning of a story. Exchange beginnings with another group and write the middle of that group’s story. Then exchange stories again with another group and write an ending to that story. Return all stories to their original groups and read them as a class.

2 3 4 5 6

WHAT STORY INSPIRED YOU? Write about a novel or poem you read that inspired or motivated you. What was the result of that inspiration? TELL ME ABOUT IT: Write a letter to your future or past self. What advice or information do you want to relay? COMPARE A BOOK AND A MOVIE: Compare a movie to the book on which it was based. Outline the similarities and differences. A NATIVE LEGEND: Learn a Native American story or legend and present it to the class. Identify any life metaphors in it. OTHER: Choose another topic linked to what you learned in this unit. Make sure to have the topic approved by your teacher.

Top Words Put a check mark next to the words and expressions you know. Use the page numbers to nd the other words in the unit and review their meaning. Add to the list new words you want to remember. Adjectives

Nouns

Verbs

Expressions

dull (86)

deterrent (91)

to cower (91)

a likely story (88)

falsied (86)

a glimpse (101)

to crave (98)

in due time (101)

neglected (89)

history (83)

to disregard (97)

the same old story (88)

plausible (85)

mists (101)

to nap (91)

riveting (89)

sensation (89)

to relate (83)

to come out of the woodwork (101)

speculative (85)

a surge (91)

to relay (83)

startling (86)

tales (86)

to vie (97)

to make matters worse (98) to take centre stage (101)

Other:

Vocabulary from the unit and other themerelated vocabulary can be practised online.

106 UNIT 5 Perspectives

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Contemplatio Contemplatio Contemplation

Contemplation CONTEMPLATION Contemplation

UNIT

6

Contemplation Contemplation Contemplation Do You Think Before You Act?

Contemplation

What our questions reveal about our values and human nature

Do all questions necessarily have an answer? Can an art exhibition move people to ask questions? Can a short story make us reconsider our societal ideals of equality for all? In this unit, you will contemplate complex questions about your way of life and the world you live in. Reproduction prohibited © TC Media Books Inc.

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107

WARM-UP

To Be or Not To Be, Is That the Question?

There are many questions in life for which there are no set answers, or which just raise more questions. How do you answer these questions?

Ponder these questions and add in the missing verbs. Then create a thoughtprovoking question of your own. Write your initial reaction to the questions in the second column of the chart. Share and discuss your thoughts with a partner.

Question 1.

Your Thoughts

it worse to fail at something or to never attempt it in the rst place?

2. If you could choose just one injustice to change in the world, what it be?

Grammar Link QUESTION FORMATION To form questions in English, the auxiliary usually comes before the subject. How much control do you have over your destiny? Would you steal if you knew you wouldn’t get caught? To form questions with the verb be, do not add another auxiliary verb.

3. To what extent you shape your own destiny? 4. If money cannot buy happiness, you ever be truly happy with no money? 5.

it more important to be liked or to respected?

6.

we strive to have an egalitarian society?

Why is it important to you? Is there a supreme power? To form “subject” questions, the answer is the subject, so no auxiliary is needed. Who decides right from wrong? What makes a good friend?

7. What you think makes you, you?

8. Other:

Refer to REAL 3 Grammar Reference and Practice, unit 11 and appendix 3.

108 UNIT 6 Contemplation

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READING

FOR INTERACTION

What role do questions play in human existence? Why do some questions have no answers? Roger Scruton, a modern-day writer and philosopher, presents his hypothesis in the article “The Questions That Have No Answers.”

Discussion and Comprehension Discuss the following questions with a partner. Then read the article on pages 110–111 to nd out what philosophers have to say, and complete the chart.

Question

Your Initial Thoughts

The Thinker by Auguste Rodin, Palace of the Legion of Honour, San Francisco

What the Article Says

1. What makes us human?

2. What role does questioning play in our life?

3. Do all questions have an answer?

4. One of the lines in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet is famous and often quoted. What is the line and what does it mean? 5. Can you name three famous philosophers who asked complicated questions about human existence?

a. b. c.

6. Can you think of any negative consequences of the human need to ask questions?

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Grammar Link EMBEDDED QUESTIONS An embedded question is a question that appears in a statement or in another question. The subject comes before the verb in an embedded question, unlike “regular” questions where the word order is reversed. Could you tell me what you know? Do you know if he can tell right from wrong? He asked himself if there was life after death. The question is whether to love or be loved. I wonder why she is so beautiful. Marie-Pier asked why the earth is round.

Discuss the works of great thinkers with a classmate. What question did these thinkers and artists ask and what great work came out of each question? Read the article below and ll in this chart. Create embedded questions like the article does.

Great Thinkers

Their Work

Their Question

Milton

Milton wondered how …

Bach

Bach asked himself how …

Rembrandt

Rembrandt questioned how …

Refer to REAL 3 Grammar Reference and Practice, unit 11.

The Questions That Have No Answers

Read “Fat but Fit” online about what at rst glance seems contradictory.

By Roger Scruton

I 5

souls (n.) a person

spiritual parts of 10

soliloquy (n.) monologue

dramatic

worthwhile (adj.) important enough to merit time and effort 15

treachery (n.)

110

betrayal

UNIT 6 Contemplation

f I ask myself what makes us human, one answer jumps out at me straight away—it is not the only answer, but it is the one suggested by the question. What makes us human is that we ask questions. All the animals have interests, instincts and conceptions. All the animals frame for themselves an idea of the world in which they live. But we alone question our surroundings. We alone refuse to be dened by the world in which we live, but instead try to dene our nature for ourselves. The intellectual history of our species is to a great extent dened by this attempt. Are we animals like the others? Do we have souls as well as bodies? Are we related, in the order of things, to angels, to demons, and to gods? All science, all art, all religion, and all philosophy worth the name begins in a question. And it is because we have questions that human life is so deeply satisfying and so deeply troubling, too. Not all questions have an answer. In mathematics and science, we solve our problems as well as create them. But in art and philosophy, things are not so simple. Hamlet’s great soliloquy starts with the line: “To be or not to be: that is the question.” The play revolves around that question. Would it be better not to exist? Is there anything in human life that makes it worthwhile? When, confronted by the extent of human treachery and scheming,

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20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

we fall into complete contempt towards our species, is there some trick of thought, some perception, some argument, or some appeal to higher authority that will restore the will to live? When I look at the great artists of the past, I am often struck by the extent to which their work has evolved in response to a question. Milton asked himself how the awed world in which he lived could be the work of a supremely good God and his answer was Paradise Lost. Bach asked himself how variants and permutations ow from the basic moves in music and his answer was The Art of Fugue. Rembrandt asked himself how the soul is revealed in the esh and what the lights and textures of our bodies mean, and his answer was his extraordinary series of self-portraits. In art, it is always as though the question is what the work of art is really about. Milton’s poem implants the question of man’s relation to God in the centre of our consciousness. It does not answer the question, but instead creates wonder and awe in response to it. Wonder and awe are the diet of the artist and without them the world would be far less meaningful to us than it is. The same is true of philosophy. Although there are philosophers who give answers, it is usually their questions and not their answers that have survived. Plato asked how it is that we can think about the property of redness and not just about red things. How can nite human minds gain access to universal realities? Plato’s question is still with us, even though few people today would accept his answer to it. Aristotle asked how it is that there can be time and change in an ordered universe. Is there a prime mover who sets it all in motion? Few would accept Aristotle’s answer to this question: but the question remains. How can there be time, change, process, and becoming, in a world that could as easily have been permanently at rest? Kant asked how it is that human beings, who are part of the natural order, can freely decide to do this rather than that, can take responsibility for their decisions and hold each other to account for the consequences of their actions. Kant was honest in acknowledging that the question lies beyond our capacity to answer it; but until we have asked it, he implied, we have no real understanding of our condition. In the monasteries, libraries, and courts of medieval Europe, the big questions were constantly debated. People would be burned at the stake for their questions, and others would cross land and sea to punish people for their answers. In the Renaissance and again at the Enlightenment, the big questions were asked and answered, and again death and destruction were the result, as in the religious wars of the 16th and 17th centuries, and the French Revolution. Communism and fascism both began in philosophy, both promised answers to the ultimate questions, and both led to mass murder. Our nature as questioning beings seems to have a huge cost. And maybe we are no longer prepared to pay it. Certainly if we look around ourselves today, we see a mass of ready-made answers and very few attempts to dene the questions that would justify them. Should we then give up on the habit of asking questions? I think not. To cease to ask questions would be to cease to be fully human.

contempt (n.) disdain

awed (adj.)

disapproval,

imperfect

Rembrandt Self-Portrait with Two Circles, c. 1665–1669

835 words

Between the Lines 1.

What important questions do we ask ourselves today? Have the questions changed from previous generations?

2.

How do the Internet and our easy access to information today affect our ability to ponder difcult philosophical questions?

3.

If our desire to ask questions and our quest for answers causes death, destruction, and war, should we cease to ask questions? Give your opinion.

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WATCHING

The Oil Sands Art Exhibit

Can art be a catalyst that makes people contemplate and consider changing their way of life? The Oil Sands Art Exhibit has many people thinking about Canada’s oil sands. Watch this news report to nd out how art can move people to ask complicated questions.

Discussion An Unkindness by Mia Feuer, 2013, Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC

Think about your daily routine and discuss these questions with a partner. 1. How many products do you use on a regular basis that contain oil or were made with oil? 2. Where does this oil come from? 3. How do you feel about the Fort McMurray oil sands in Alberta? 4. What do you know about the Keystone Pipeline?

The Keystone Pipeline is an oil pipeline system in Canada and the United States. It runs from Alberta to reneries in the United States.

Vocabulary Match each word or expression with its denition before you watch the news report. 1.

timely (adj.)

a. confused or surprised

2.

to praise (v.)

b. relevant to what is going on in the world

3.

unsettling (adj.)

c. area of land

4.

threatening (adj.)

d. to persist

5.

raves (n.)

e. to express admiration

6.

taken aback (exp.)

f. a contradictory statement that might be true

7.

landscape (n.)

g. enthusiastic approval

8.

to linger (v.)

h. dangerous, menacing

9.

to try it on for size (exp.)

i.

disturbing

j.

to test something and form an opinion about it

10. a paradox (n.)

Comprehension 1. What is the name of the art exhibition? Why do you think it is called this way?

2. What does the artist want us to contemplate?

112

UNIT 6 Contemplation

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3. What words are used to describe the art exhibition?

4. What materials are used in her art exhibition?

5. Circle T or F to indicate if each statement is true or false. If it is false, write the correct statement. a. The art exhibition is “getting raves” means that the public doesn’t really like or understand the exhibition.

T

F

b. The purpose of the skating rink is to encourage people to have fun and to get into shape so they use less oil.

T

F

c. What the artist saw in nature in Fort McMurray upset her.

T

F

6. What is the paradox of an oily skating rink?

7. What is Foyer’s ultimate goal with this art exhibition?

8. Explain Foyer’s belief about the role of art in producing change in the world.

Discussion and Writing 1. Discuss the paradox surrounding our use of oil with a small group of students. Did the art exhibition change your beliefs? Do you have any ideas how we could use less oil? 2. Do you agree or disagree with this quote from the news report? Explain your answer. “Art that makes you consider complicated questions, art that is not just striking but provocative, might lead to answers.”

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Idioms Contemplation Do great minds really think alike? Learn these useful idiomatic expressions related to contemplation. Complete each idiom by matching the beginning with the missing word. 1.

to look before you

a. mind

2.

to rack your

b. clouds

3.

to come to one’s

c. head

4.

to be at your wits’

d. navel

5.

to get a load off your

e. leap

6.

to put it out of your

f. end

7.

to have a clear

g. senses

8.

to contemplate your own

h. conscience

9.

to have your head in the

i.

brain

Use these idioms in context. Complete each sentence with the most appropriate idiom. Remember to conjugate the verb according to the context.

1. I’m glad my brother nally

and decided to nish

his college diploma. 2. You should take a few moments to analyze the situation and the risks involved before making a decision. You should 3. I was wondering if you needed

. . You look like you

had a difcult day. Would you like to talk about it? 4. For how long have you been

to nd a solution

to the problem? 5. My daughter is a real dreamer. She always 6. Do you

. ? —Yes, I do. I know that I told the truth

and made the best decision. I will sleep well tonight.

114

UNIT 6 Contemplation

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7. I’ve tried everything I can think of to get my parents to recycle their waste. I

. Do you have any suggestions for me?

8. I know you still love her, but you should try because she doesn’t love you anymore. 9. She spent so much time

that she didn’t notice

her son’s drinking problem.

SPEAKING

Where Is It Made?

Have you ever contemplated the relationship between our purchases and our values?

Look at the labels of these items in small groups to nd out where they were made. Write in the chart where each student’s items were made. Then discuss the questions that follow.

Items

Partner 1

Partner 2

Partner 3

Your shirt or jacket

Your pants

An item from your pencil case Your shoes

Your smartphone

Discussion 1. In which countries were most of the items made? What do you imagine the working conditions are like for the factory workers in these countries? 2. What impact does this have on our North American economy and job situation? 3. Would you refuse to buy items from these countries? Why or why not? 4. Do your purchases say something about your values and moral code? Explain.

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WATCHING

The China Question

Through the stories of ordinary people and analyses from the world’s leading experts, the documentary The China Question explores the challenge America faces as China becomes the world’s second superpower.

Vocabulary Circle the correct denition of each word or expression as it is used in the documentary. 1. to boycott (v.)

a. to abstain from using

b. to ght against

2. to downsize (v.)

a. to get through a difculty

b. to make smaller

3. complacent (adj.)

a. unconcerned with unpleasant realities

b. happy with your life

4. cheap labour (exp.)

a. workers who make poor-quality products

b. workers making products under unfair conditions

5. unemployment (n.)

a. state of not having a job

b. incorrect way to use a product

6. free speech (exp.)

a. unconscious ow of ideas

b. right to express your opinions in public

7. goods (n.)

a. products

b. sweets like cookies and candy

8. to rise (v.)

a. to get up in the morning

b. to move from a lower to a higher position

9. currency (n.)

a. money

b. up-to-date

a. an available supply of

b. a body of

10. a pool of (exp.)

Comprehension Part 1

Watch the introduction to the documentary and answer the questions. 1. How many years ago could you nd things still made in America? 2. Where was the American doll made? 3. What has Nancy Silva boycotted? 4. Describe the relationship between China and America.

116

UNIT 6 Contemplation

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5. Complete these questions from the introduction of the documentary. a. Why

they be made here?

b. What

it mean to America to contribute to China’s ?

c. How d.

it

our economy?

does it mean for our

?

Part 2

Watch the next part of the documentary and answer the questions. 1. What are the moral reasons mentioned in the documentary that have people questioning China’s rise?

2. What did you learn about China’s economic rise?

3. What did you learn about the Chinese company Caps Land?

What do they make and for whom?

How do they make it?

What are their strengths?

What are their weaknesses?

How much money do the workers make?

4. What is the main reason for Nancy Silva’s boycott?

5. Why do the Chinese choose to work in factories?

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117

6. Listen and take notes about what “the experts” say about the China–US relationship.

7. What does Nancy Silva think about our individual role in China’s economic rise?

8. How does the lmmaker view his mother’s boycott now?

9. Complete these questions the lmmaker asks at the end of the documentary. we really content to enjoy a comfortable but lower

a.

? b. Are we OK with a

in world affairs?

c. Are we willing to concede that

and expression are not

universal values? d. Have we let all this happen out of

or out of not bothering

to notice? 10. Why does the lmmaker choose to end the documentary by showing Americans lining up to shop on Black Friday? What impact does this conclusion have on the China Question?

Between the Lines Brook Silva-Braga, the lmmaker, raises interesting questions about the relationship between the US and China.

118

UNIT 6 Contemplation

1.

Discuss the China Question with your classmates.

2.

Return to the questions asked at the end of the documentary (see question 9 above). What is your opinion on these issues?

3.

Do you have any solutions to these problems?

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Pronunciation Question Intonation Intonation is very important when asking questions in English. Our voice either rises or falls at the end of a question depending on the type of question being asked. Make sure to apply these simple rules when asking questions in English. For yes / no questions, our voice goes up at the end. Can you nd a solution to the problem?  For information questions, our voice goes down at the end. How can you make a difference? î For tag endings, our voice either goes up or down depending on the information requested. Rising intonation on the tag indicates that the speaker is asking for information. You weren’t lying, were you?  Falling intonation on the tag indicates that the speaker expects the listener will agree with the information. Sabrina goes to school, doesn’t she? î Repeat the questions after the speaker. Circle the rising or falling arrow to indicate whether the voice goes up or down at the end of each question. 1. 

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Jeopardy Form groups of four and choose four of the topics suggested. 1. College life

4. Philosophy

6. Sports

2. Equality

5. Pollution

7. US–China relationship

3. Great thinkers

Rembrandt Self-Portrait with Two Circles, c. 1665–1669

• Each student writes four answers (one for each topic) on four small sheets of paper. • The “host” collects all the answers and shufes the papers. The host then reads the rst answer from the deck out loud to the three other students. • The rst student to create a question for the answer and to say it with the correct intonation earns ten points. The rst student to reach fty points wins the game.

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Bust of Plato, Musei Capitolini. Roman, copy of the portrait made by Silanion c. 370 BC for the Academia in Athens, Greece

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READING

dystopian (adj.) characterized by a nightmarish vision of society with oppression and terror

FOR STRATEGY AND CHALLENGE • RECOGNIZING TONE

Great thinkers, through their art, documentaries, and ction, force us to contemplate serious problems and to question our ideals. Kurt Vonnegut, in his satirical and dystopian science ction story “Harrison Bergeron,” raises the question of the desirability of social equality and the extent to which society is prepared to achieve it.

Discuss each statement with a partner before you read the short story. Explain why you agree or disagree. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (1922–2007) is a well-known American author. His famous works include Slaughter House Five (1969) and Breakfast of Champions (1973). His novels and stories combine satire, dark humour, and science ction to leave a memorable impression on the reader.

1. We are all created equal. 2. Women are equal to men. 3. Beautiful people should have no advantage in society. 4. Intelligent people should have no advantage in society. 5. Rich people should have no advantage in society. 6. We should strive for social equality.

Vocabulary Guess the meaning of the words in bold in the short story as you read. Do not use your dictionary. Apply the strategy you learned in unit 1 (page 7): guess meaning from context. Write a synonym or short denition on the lines in the margin.

Harrison Bergeron 1. 2. 3.

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4. 5. 10

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120 UNIT 6 Contemplation

he year was 2081, and everybody was nally equal. They weren’t only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter1 than anybody else. Nobody was betterlooking 2 than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing3 vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General. Some things about living still weren’t quite right, though. April for instance, still drove people crazy by not being springtime. And it was in that clammy4 month that the H-G men took George and Hazel Bergeron’s fourteen-year-old son, Harrison, away. It was tragic, all right, but George and Hazel couldn’t think about it very hard. Hazel had a perfectly average intelligence, which meant she couldn’t think about anything except in short bursts. And George,

By Kurt Vonnegut

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while his intelligence was way above normal, had a little mental handicap radio in his ear. He was required by law to wear it at all times. It was tuned to a government transmitter. Every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking unfair advantage of their brains. George and Hazel were watching television. There were tears on Hazel’s cheeks, but she’d forgotten for the moment what they were about.

35

On the television screen were ballerinas. A buzzer sounded in George’s head. His thoughts ed 5 in panic, like bandits from a burglar alarm.

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“That was a real pretty dance, that dance they just did,” said Hazel. “Huh,” said George. “That dance—it was nice,” said Hazel.

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“Yup,” said George. He tried to think a little about the ballerinas. They weren’t really very good—no better than anybody else would have been, anyway. They were burdened 6 with sashweights and bags of birdshot, and their faces were masked, so that no one, seeing a free and graceful gesture or a pretty face, would feel like something the cat drug in. George was toying with7 the vague notion that maybe dancers shouldn’t be handicapped. But he didn’t get very far with it before another noise in his ear radio scattered his thoughts.

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George winced8. So did two out of the eight ballerinas. 60

Hazel saw him wince. Having no mental handicap herself, she had to ask George what the latest sound had been.

“I’d think it would be real interesting, hearing all the different sounds,” said Hazel a little envious9. “All the things they think up.”

75

“Only, if I was Handicapper General, you know what I would do?” said Hazel. Hazel, as a matter of fact, bore a strong resemblance to the Handicapper General, a woman named Diana Moon Glampers. “If I was Diana Moon Glampers,” said Hazel, “I’d have chimes on Sunday—just chimes. Kind of in honour of religion.”

“Well—maybe make ’em real loud,” said Hazel. “I think I’d make a good Handicapper General.”

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“Two years in prison and a twothousand dollar ne for every ball I took out,” said George. “I don’t call that a bargain.”

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“Who knows better than I do what normal is?” said Hazel.

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“Right,” said George. He began to think glimmeringly about his abnormal son who was now in jail, about Harrison, but a 21-gun salute in his head stopped that. “Boy!” said Hazel, “that was a doozy, wasn’t it?”

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7. 8.

10.

“If you could just take a few out when you came home from work,” said Hazel. “I mean—you don’t compete with anybody around here. You just sit around.” “If I tried to get away with it,” said George, “then other people’d get away with it—and pretty soon we’d be right back to the dark ages again, with everybody competing against everybody else. You wouldn’t like that, would you?” “I’d hate it,” said Hazel.

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“Good as anybody else,” said George. 85

9.

“You been so tired lately—kind of wore out,” said Hazel. “If there was just some way we could make a little hole in the bottom of the bag, and just take out a few of them lead balls. Just a few.”

“I could think, if it was just chimes,” said George. 80

“All of a sudden you look so tired,” said Hazel. “Why don’t you stretch out on the sofa, so’s you can rest your handicap bag on the pillows, honeybunch.” She was referring to the 47 pounds of birdshot in a canvas bag, which was padlocked around George’s neck. “Go on and rest the bag for a little while,” she said. “I don’t care if you’re not equal to me for a while.”

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“Um,” said George. 70

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George weighed the bag with his hands. “I don’t mind it,” he said. “I don’t notice it any more. It’s just a part of me.”

“Sounded like somebody hitting a milk bottle with a ball-peen hammer,” said George. 65

It was such a doozy that George was white and trembling, and tears stood on the rims of his red eyes. Two of the eight ballerinas had collapsed10 to the studio oor, were holding their temples.

135

“There you are,” said George. “The minute people start cheating on laws, what do you think happens to society?” If Hazel hadn’t been able to come up with an answer to this question, George couldn’t have supplied one. A siren was going off in his head. “Reckon it’d fall all apart,” said Hazel. “What would?” said George blankly. “Society,” said Hazel uncertainly. “Wasn’t that what you just said?”

140

“Who knows?” said George.

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11. 12. 145

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He nally gave up, handed the bulletin to a ballerina to read.

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“That’s all right—” Hazel said of the announcer, “he tried. That’s the big thing. He tried to do the best he could with what God gave him. He should get a nice raise for trying so hard.”

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UNIT 6 Contemplation

The television program was suddenly interrupted for a news bulletin. It wasn’t clear at rst as to what the bulletin was about, since the announcer, like all announcers, had a serious speech impediment. For about half a minute, and in a state of high excitement, the announcer tried to say, “Ladies and Gentlemen.”

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” said the ballerina, reading the bulletin. She must have been extraordinarily beautiful, because the mask she wore was hideous 11. And it was easy to see that she was the strongest and most graceful of all the dancers, for her handicap bags were as big as those worn by two-hundred pound men. And she had to apologize at once for her voice, which was a very unfair voice for a woman to use. Her voice was a warm, luminous, timeless melody. “Excuse me—” she said, and she began again, making her voice absolutely uncompetitive. “Harrison Bergeron, age fourteen,” she said in a grackle squawk, “has just escaped from jail, where he was held on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the government. He is a genius and an athlete, is underhandicapped, and should be regarded as extremely dangerous.” A police photograph of Harrison Bergeron was ashed on the screen— upside down, then sideways, upside down again, then right side up. The picture showed the full length of Harrison against a background calibrated in feet and inches. He was exactly seven feet tall. The rest of Harrison’s appearance was Halloween and hardware. Nobody had ever born heavier handicaps. He had outgrown hindrances12 faster than the H-G men could think them up. Instead of a little ear radio for a mental handicap, he wore a tremendous pair of earphones, and spectacles with thick wavy lenses. The spectacles were intended to make him not only half blind, but to give him whanging headaches besides.

195

Scrap metal was hung all over him. Ordinarily, there was a certain symmetry, a military neatness to the handicaps issued to strong people, but Harrison looked like a walking junkyard. In the race of life, Harrison carried three hundred pounds.

200

And to offset his good looks, the H-G men required that he wear at all times a red rubber ball for a nose, keep his eyebrows shaved off, and cover his even white teeth with black caps at snaggle-tooth random.

205

“If you see this boy,” said the ballerina, “do not—I repeat, do not—try to reason with him.” There was the shriek of a door being torn from its hinges.

210

Screams and barking cries of consternation came from the television set. The photograph of Harrison Bergeron on the screen jumped again and again, as though dancing to the tune of an earthquake.

215

George Bergeron correctly identied the earthquake, and well he might have— for many was the time his own home had danced to thesame crashing tune.“My God—” said George, “that must be Harrison!”

220

The realization was blasted from his mind instantly by the sound of an automobile collision in his head.

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When George could open his eyes again, the photograph of Harrison was gone. A living, breathing Harrison lled the screen. Clanking, clownish, and huge, Harrison stood—in the centre of the studio. The knob of the uprooted studio door was still in his hand. Ballerinas, technicians, musicians, and announcers cowered on their knees before him, expecting to die. “I am the Emperor!” cried Harrison. “Do you hear? I am the Emperor! Everybody must do what I say at once!” He stamped his foot and the studio shook. “Even as I stand here,” he bellowed, “crippled, hobbled, sickened—I am a greater ruler than any man who ever lived! Now watch me become what I can become!”

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Harrison tore the straps of his handicap harness like wet tissue paper, tore straps guaranteed to support ve thousand pounds. Harrison’s scrap-iron handicaps crashed to the oor. Reproduction prohibited © TC Media Books Inc.

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Harrison thrust his thumbs under the bar of the padlock that secured his head harness. The bar snapped like celery. Harrison smashed his headphones and spectacles against the wall.

“I shall now select my Empress!” he said, looking down on the cowering people. “Let the rst woman who dares rise to her feet claim her mate and her throne!”

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The music began. It was normal at rst—cheap, silly, false. But Harrison snatched two musicians from their chairs, waved them like batons as he sang the music as he wanted it played. He slammed them back into their chairs. The music began again and was much improved.

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Not only were the laws of the land abandoned, but the law of gravity and the laws of motion as well.

And then, neutralling gravity with love and pure will, they remained suspended in air inches below the ceiling, and they kissed each other for a long, long time. It was then that Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicapper General, came into the studio with a double-barrelled ten-gauge shotgun. She red twice, and the Emperor and the Empress were dead before they hit the oor. Diana Moon Glampers loaded the gun again. She aimed it at the musicians and told them they had ten seconds to get their handicaps back on. It was then that the Bergerons’ television tube burned out 14. Hazel turned to comment about the blackout to George. But George had gone out into the kitchen for a can of beer.

320

George came back in with the beer, paused while a handicap signal shook him up. And then he sat down again. “You been crying,” he said to Hazel. “Yup,” she said. “What about?” he said.

325

“I forget,” she said. “Something real sad on television.” “What was it?” he said. “It’s all kind of mixed up in my mind,” said Hazel.

330

“Forget sad things,” said George. “I always do,” said Hazel.

Harrison placed his big hands on the girl’s tiny waist, letting her sense the weightlessness that would soon be hers. And then, in an explosion of joy and grace, into the air they sprang!

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Harrison and his Empress merely listened to the music for a while— listened gravely, as though synchronizing their heartbeats with it. They shifted their weights to their toes.

14.

It became their obvious intention to kiss the ceiling. They kissed it.

“Now—” said Harrison, taking her hand, “shall we show the people the meaning of the word dance? Music!” he commanded. The musicians scrambled back into their chairs, and Harrison stripped them of their handicaps, too. “Play your best,” he told them, “and I’ll make you barons and dukes and earls.”

They leaped like deer on the moon.

13.

The studio ceiling was thirty feet high, but each leap brought the dancers nearer to it.

Harrison plucked the mental handicap from her ear, snapped off her physical handicaps with marvelous delicacy. Last of all he removed her mask. She was blindingly beautiful.

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He ung 13 away his rubber-ball nose, revealed a man that would have awed Thor, the god of thunder.

A moment passed, and then a ballerina arose, swaying like a willow. 260

They reeled, whirled, swiveled, ounced, capered, gamboled, and spun.

“That’s my girl,” said George. He winced. There was the sound of a riveting gun in his head. 335

“Gee—I could tell that one was a doozy,” said Hazel. “You can say that again,” said George. “Gee—” said Hazel, “I could tell that one was a doozy.”

Listen to “Machiavelli: The Prince of Paradox” online to learn about Machiavelli, whose book The Prince has inspired political leaders around the world.

2192 words

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How To RECOGNIZE TONE In writing, tone refers to the author’s attitude or feelings toward the subject of the story. Authors use many strategies to reveal their implicit or explicit attitude to the attentive reader. Your ability to recognize tone can often make the difference between understanding the message of the story or missing the point completely. To recognize tone, the reader needs to pay careful attention to:

Comprehension and Discussion 1. What is the author’s tone or attitude in this short story? Support your answer with evidence from the story.

2. Describe Vonnegut’s America in the year 2081—its government, society, and people. Would you want to live there?

1. The author’s choice of language 2. The author’s use of syntax and punctuation 3. The author’s use of irony, humour, and sarcasm

3. What do Hazel and George’s dialogue and word choice reveal about them?

4. The author’s use of hyperbole or exaggerations to create effect

4. What effect does George’s mental handicap radio in his ear have on his concentration when communicating? Does this remind you of any modern devices?

5. In your opinion, what does it mean to be equal? Does being equal mean that everyone must be the same? What do you feel is Vonnegut’s view on equality?

6. Is competition good, bad, or a little of both? Why do you feel that way? What do you think Vonnegut’s view on competition would be?

124

UNIT 6 Contemplation

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7. In traditional stories, the hero is a superhuman gure, who “saves” people from an enemy. In what passages is Harrison superhuman? How are the results of Harrison’s efforts ironic?

L iterary Device 8. Why do you think Vonnegut wrote this story? What message does he want to convey to the readers? Was he successful?

9. Find two examples of irony in this story and explain them. Refer to Literary Device for more information. a.

b.

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IRONY Irony describes a situation where we use words that mean the opposite of what we really mean. Authors often use irony to make their readers stop and think about a situation, or to reveal a central theme or idea. Vonnegut uses many examples of irony in this short story. For example, in most societies, people who are beautiful, strong, or intelligent are valued and have easier lives. In “Harrison Bergeron,” however, Vonnegut creates an “equal” and ideal society which seeks to make people uglier, weaker, and dumber so that they will blindly follow authority. This portrayed “egalitarian society” is obviously very awed, but Vonnegut never says this. He uses words and creates situations that mean the opposite.

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Creative Writing Rewrite the ending to “Harrison Bergeron” and have Bergeron live and become the emperor. What changes would he make to his society? What kind of leader would he be? Would he create a better or worse society for his people?

How To WRITE A SHORT STORY PLOT SUMMARY Refer to Writing Files 4, page 151, for information on writing a short story plot summary.

The plot of a story is made up of a series of events. To write a plot summary, you need to condense the events into the essential storyline and restate them in your own words. 1. Begin your plot summary by identifying the title and author of the short story. 2. Give the reader background on the story, such as the setting and main characters, but avoid lengthy descriptions. 3. Identify the conict or problem the characters are involved in, and then summarize the events chronologically as they occur in the story. 4. In your concluding sentence, indicate how the problem has been resolved. 5. When quoting from the story, use quotation marks.

Focus on Plot Summary Writing Write a plot summary for “Harrison Bergeron” of approximately 150 to 200 words. Use your answers to the comprehension and discussion questions on pages 124 and 125 to help you. Refer to How to Write a Short Story Plot Summary above.

SPEAKING

Ranting

A rant is an enthusiastic and passionate speech or text about a current issue, an ideology, a problem in society, a person, an event, or an institution. If a rant is done well, it is often humorous, thoughtful, and persuasive.

Prepare a two-minute rant on a topic from this unit that you feel passionate about. Here are a few ideas:

Rick Mercer (1969– ), a famous Canadian ranter

126

UNIT 6 Contemplation

1. A classless society

7. Gender equality

2. Stereotypes in society

8. Our dependence on imported products

3. Our consumer society

9. Our dependence on oil

4. Canada’s oil sands

10. Our acceptance of “cheap labour”

5. Art as a catalyst for change

11. Freedom of speech

6. Our complacency

12. A topic of your choice

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Follow these suggestions to create a successful rant: • Select a thought-provoking topic that you feel strongly about. • Use emotionally-charged and persuasive language. • Use humour or irony to express your feelings and keep your audience interested. • Use a clear, loud tone of voice, but do not shout. • Include personal anecdotes or facts to support your position. • Challenge your audience or persuade them to take your issue seriously. • Conclude your rant with a strong restatement of your issue and position.

Vocabulary for Contemplation There are many verbs in the English language to describe various forms of contemplation. Use these words to express your thoughts more precisely in your rants and persuasive essays.

Vocabulary for contemplation can be practised online.

Verbs which mean to look thoughtfully for a long time at: examine

inspect

observe

scrutinize

stare

study

view

Verbs or expressions which mean to think deeply about : cogitate consider

deliberate dwell on

meditate on mull over

ponder reect on

ruminate

Focus on Persuasive Writing A rant requires you to be persuasive and convincing. These same qualities are needed to write a good persuasive essay.

Write a persuasive essay on one of the topics on page 126. You can use the same topic as your rant or choose a different one. Your essay should contain four to ve paragraphs and approximately 400 words.

How To WRITE A PERSUASIVE ESSAY The purpose of a persuasive essay is to convince readers that your point of view is valid and, ideally, to persuade them to change their point of view on an issue. A persuasive essay is often less formal than an argumentative essay, and uses more provocative, emotionally-charged language.

Refer to Writing Files 1 and 3, pages 129 and 147, for information on writing a persuasive essay.

• The introduction of your persuasive essay should contain an attention-grabbing opening sentence and a debatable thesis statement that clearly shows your point of view. • The body paragraphs should begin with a persuasive topic sentence and include support to convince the reader of the validity of your arguments. • The conclusion should reformulate the thesis statement, summarize the key points of the essay, and end with a personal commitment to the cause or a call to action.

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Topic Files Write a text or give an oral presentation on one of the following topics. Try to incorporate the elements from the Make the Connection box and use as many of the Top Words as you can.

Make the Connection Grammar Links: Question formation....... 108 Embedded questions .... 110 Vocabulary and idioms for contemplation...114, 127 Pronunciation: Question intonation ...................... 119 Strategy: Recognizing tone ................................... 124 Literary Device: Irony .............................. 125 Writing: Writing a short story plot summary................ 126 Writing a persuasive essay ............................. 127

1 2 3 4 5

TO BE OR NOT TO BE: DO WE ASK ENOUGH QUESTIONS? How does the Internet affect our ability to ponder difcult philosophical questions? CATALYST FOR CHANGE: Can art be a catalyst that makes people question their way of life and change the world for the better? MADE IN CHINA: What moral and ethical issues are involved every time we buy imported products? Can we do anything to change this situation? ALL THINGS CREATED EQUAL: Should we all be treated equally or are there more advantages in celebrating our differences? OTHER: Choose another topic linked to what you learned in this unit. Make sure to have the topic approved by your teacher.

Top Words Put a check mark next to the words and expressions you know. Use the page numbers to nd the other words in the unit and review their meaning. Add to the list new words you want to remember. Adjectives

Refer to the Writing Files on page 129 for information on essays. Refer to appendix 2 on page 179 for information on oral presentations.

Nouns

Verbs

Expressions

burdened (121)

currency (116)

to boycott (116)

free speech (116)

envious (121)

goods (116)

to downsize (116)

to toy with (121)

threatening (112)

hindrances (122)

to linger (112)

timely (112)

landscape (112)

to praise (112)

unsettling (112)

paradox (112)

to rise (116)

raves (112) unemployment (116) Other:

Vocabulary from the unit and other theme-related vocabulary can be practised online.

128 UNIT 6 Contemplation

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The Essay The Essay The Essay The Essay The The Essay The Essay The Essay The Essay The EssayThe The Essay

WRITING FILES

1

What is an essay?

An essay is a short piece of writing on a particular topic. It is often written from the author’s personal point of view. It is derived from the French word essayer, which means to try. An essay is an attempt to express a point of view or to give information on a topic.

How do I structure an essay? An essay is made up of three types of paragraphs: 1. The introduction engages the reader’s interest and contains an attention-getter (or hook) and a thesis statement.  An attention-getter is an opening sentence that grabs the readers’ attention and encourages them to read further.  The thesis statement is composed of one or more sentences that clearly indicate the topic of the essay and the main points to be covered. 2. The body paragraphs support the thesis statement.  Each body paragraph contains a topic sentence, and focuses on a main idea that is linked to the thesis statement. 3. The conclusion summarizes the main points of the essay and brings it to an interesting close.

Practice 1 Study the following essay model. 1. Put a star next to the attention getter.

3. Underline the topic sentences.

2. Highlight the thesis statement.

4. Circle the concluding statement.

Sleep Deprivation Everyone knows that we need at least eight hours of sleep a night, but why are so few of us getting enough? It seems that between school, homework, part-time jobs, family, friends, and sports, there is not a lot of time in our lives for sleep. In fact, sleep deprivation affects 70 per cent of Canadian students, according to the Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Québec. This lack of sleep, however, has very negative consequences on our cognitive development, and can even lead to health problems. Lack of sleep can have a negative impact on our ability to learn. Not getting a solid eight hours of sleep a night can impair our attention and our capacity to solve problems. It makes concentrating much more

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challenging, and ultimately makes learning in a classroom environment very difcult, if not impossible. Moreover, when we sleep, we transfer everything that was learned that day from the hippocampus to the neocortex, where long-term memories are stocked. This transfer is essential in learning and only happens during the deepest levels of sleep. Therefore, if students don’t get enough sleep, they won’t be able to remember what experiences they had or important information they learned during the day. Secondly, people with sleep deprivation are more likely to develop psychological disorders. A study conducted among ten thousand people found that sleep-deprived individuals reported a higher level of anxiety and depression than those who slept about eight hours a night. Insomnia and depression are tightly linked. In other words, depression makes it harder to fall asleep and insufcient sleep often leads to depression. However, subjects who had slept the number of hours recommended reported feeling optimistic, happy, focused, and not too stressed. In conclusion, chronic sleep loss can make college students forgetful, cause them to be depressed, and may lead to more serious health conditions later in life. As the semester draws to a close and students everywhere are pulling all-nighters to study for important exams, is it possible we are doing more harm to ourselves than good?

Generating Ideas The rst step in the writing process is to choose a subject, narrow it down, personalize it, and decide what you want to say about it. At the prewriting stage, there are three important questions that you have to answer: 1. What do I want to write about? (Choose a subject that you know about and are interested in.) 2. Who do I want to write to or for? (Choose an audience.) 3. Why do I want to write about this? (Decide on your purpose.) Now that you have your subject, audience, and purpose for writing, you need to come up with your thoughts, feelings, and ideas about the subject. The most common techniques used to generate ideas are brainstorming, freewriting, questioning, and cluster-mapping.

Write It! STEP 1

GENERATING IDEAS

Choose one of the subjects in the margin. Use two different techniques from page 131 to generate as many ideas as you can. Write your ideas in the chart. Which technique helped you generate the most ideas? You can use the same subject throughout the Write It! activities in this Writing Files section.

Collaborative Consumption Equality Gossip Honesty Peer Pressure Social Activism Storytelling

SUBJECT:

Travel Other:

130 WRITING FILES 1 The Essay

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BRAINSTORMING is an effective way to think of new ideas alone or in small groups. To brainstorm, you say or write in point form every idea about a given subject that comes to mind. Do not worry about spelling or structure at this stage.

•

•

•

TECHNIQUE

FREEWRITING allows you to write freely, in sentences, all your ideas on a given subject without worrying about errors, organization, or word choice. To freewrite effectively, you should set a time limit and write down all of the ideas that come to mind as quickly as you can.

QUESTIONING allows you to explore your subject by asking questions. Each question is a probe that allows you to dig below the surface to nd out what you already know about the subject and what you would like to nd out.

Who

Why

What

How

Where

How often

When

How much

CLUSTER-MAPPING allows you to map your ideas visually and to create associations between your thoughts. The word cluster means a group of similar things. To create a cluster map, you write the subject in the centre of the map and then write general ideas about the subject around it. Continue making associations between your ideas.

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The Introduction First impressions are extremely important. This is why you need to pay special attention to the introduction of your essay. A strong introduction engages the readers’ interest and encourages them to read the essay. The introductory paragraph contains two main parts: an attention-getter and the thesis statement. There are several kinds of attention-getters to choose from: • a quotation or paraphrase

 According to Sherry Turkle, who has studied technologies for 15 years, we have sacriced conversation for mere connection.

• an interesting fact, statistic, or statement

 Studies show that babies are born with a basic sense of right and wrong, a universal moral code.

• a question

 Would you be willing to travel to Mars knowing you could never come home?

• a challenge to a common opinion

 Buying imported products is unavoidable and has no effect on the local economy.

• an anecdote or story related to the topic

 I can remember the rst time I heard my father tell a scary ghost story. We were camping in La Mauricie National Park, the re was bright and warm, and I was scared to death.

Practice 2 Read the introduction below. 1. Underline the attention-getter. 2. Highlight the thesis statement. 3. Identify the type of attention-getting strategy used.

As a student at college, I’ve learned the hard way that having a car on campus can be more trouble than it’s worth. With hundreds of other students also trying to get the few remaining parking spaces, you’re usually out of luck if you’re not on campus by 8 a.m. Then, once you’ve nally found a parking space, you have to run from the parking lot to class just to avoid coming in late. Add those inconveniences to rising gas prices and the other environmental costs of driving, and who really wants the extra trouble? The fewer cars there are on campus, the better for the environment and for our own health. Attention-getting strategy:

The Thesis Statement An effective thesis statement: • expresses a point of view, attitude, or opinion about a topic. • includes a statement or an idea for which you can develop support. • has a controlling idea that focuses your essay. • contains the main points to be explored.

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To write a thesis statement, combine your topic and main points. Here is a simple formula for constructing effective thesis statements:

Topic

Link

Main Point 1

Main Point 2

Gossip

allows us

to learn from others

and create a better life for ourselves.

Couchsurng

teaches people

tolerance

and trust.

A thesis statement should not be: • a personal expression  I will talk about the benets of gossip. (no main points) • a question

 Why do we all have wanderlust? (no point of view)

• an obvious fact

 Eighty-ve per cent of people have a social media account.

• too broad

 Many people like to travel. (not specic enough)

• too narrow

 Some people like to tell stories to make others scared. (too limited to develop into a whole essay)

Practice 3 Analyze each statement. If it is an effective thesis statement, put a check mark on the line provided. If it is a weak thesis statement, identify the problem and try to x it. 1. In my essay, I will talk about honesty. 2. Bikesharing, ridesharing, and co-working will help create a greener future. 3. We tell lies for many different reasons. 4. Why do people travel? 5. Trust and attraction are needed for a successful long-lasting relationship. 6. Collaborative consumption allows us to share resources.

Write It! STEP 2

WRITE A THESIS STATEMENT

Write an effective thesis statement using a subject from the Write It! Step 1 exercise on page 130. You will need to refer to this thesis statement to complete the other Write It! exercises.

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Write It! STEP 3

WRITE AN INTRODUCTION

Write an introduction using the thesis statement from Write It! Step 2.

The Body Paragraphs The role of the body paragraphs is to support, develop, prove, and/or explain your thesis statement. Each body paragraph is made up of a topic sentence and supporting ideas. The topic sentence tells the reader what the paragraph is about. • It introduces the topic of the paragraph. • It includes a controlling idea that makes a point about the topic. • It focuses the paragraph. • It is often the rst sentence of the paragraph.

Thesis Statement and Topic Sentences An essay has one thesis statement found in the introduction. It explains what the essay is about. Each body paragraph has one topic sentence. It explains what the paragraph is about. The main points in your thesis statement become the focus of your topic sentences. Thesis statement: To reduce trafc congestion and noise pollution in major urban centres, more people should use bikeshare programs.

Topic Sentence 1: Trafc Congestion If more people biked to work or school every day, there would be fewer cars on the road.

Topic Sentence 2: Noise Pollution Biking is quiet, unlike car trafc.

Practice 4 Read the thesis statement and write topic sentences to support it. Thesis statement: Whistleblowing is both an act of disloyalty and of integrity.

Topic Sentence 1: Disloyalty

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Write It! STEP 4

WRITE TOPIC SENTENCES

Write two topic sentences to accompany the thesis statement you wrote in Write It! Step 2 on page 133.

Topic Sentence 1:

Topic Sentence 2:

Supporting Ideas Once you have written a clear and effective topic sentence, you must think of ideas that will prove, illustrate, or explain it. To support a topic sentence, use one or more of the following.  Facts and statistics: Relevant facts and statistics give authority to your ideas.  Examples:

One of the best ways to support your topic is by providing clear, relevant examples.

 Anecdotes:

Everyone loves to read a good story. An anecdote can be an effective way to help readers understand and remember an idea.

 Quotations:

Sometimes you will nd that someone else, maybe an expert in the eld, has said what you want to say, but in a much better way. You can quote this person, but remember to acknowledge the source.

Practice 5 Read the paragraph and answer the questions.

Gossip is the key to social success. Most people assume that talking about others is negative behaviour that should be avoided. Who hasn’t been the victim of petty comments in high school? According to Kate Fox, a social anthropologist, only 5 per cent of gossip is negative. In fact, she explains that gossip is the foundation of our civilization. It strengthens communities, allows us to compare and compete amongst ourselves, and also deters bad behaviour. So next time you are wondering whether you should spread the news about others, go ahead and get it off your chest! 1. Circle the topic of this paragraph and underline the controlling idea. 2. What is this sentence called? 3. Which are the supporting sentences? Underline them twice.

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4. What does the author use to support her point of view?

5. Highlight the conclusion. 6. What is the author’s purpose in this paragraph? 7. Who is the intended audience?

The Conclusion The concluding or last paragraph of the essay is your opportunity to make a lasting impression on your reader. It represents your last chance to say something important.

Do not contradict your main point or introduce a new idea in your conclusion. Do not apologize for your point of view.

The conclusion has two important functions: 1. It summarizes or reinforces the main points of the essay. 2. It brings your essay to an interesting close with a memorable statement. There are several kinds of memorable statements to choose from: • a thought-provoking quotation or question

c “The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.” — Oscar Wilde

• a solution to a problem discussed in the essay

c Next time you put the key in the ignition to drive to school, consider other stress-free and environmentally friendly options such as biking, walking, or taking public transport.

• a suggestion for change

c We should put aside our electronic gadgets to make time for meaningful face-to-face communication.

Practice 6 Read this conclusion to the essay “The Flight from Conversation” by Sherry Turkle. 1. Circle the summary of the main points. 2. Underline the memorable statement. What kind of statement is used?

Not too long ago, people walked with their heads up, looking at the water, the sky, the sand, and at one another, talking. Now they often walk with their heads down, typing. Even when they are with friends, partners, children, everyone is on their own devices. So I say, look up, look at one another, and let’s start the conversation.

Write It! STEP 5

WRITE A CONCLUSION

Write a conclusion for your introduction from Write It! Step 3 on page 134.

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The Essay Outline An outline is a plan or map of your essay from beginning to end. It helps you plan what you want to say about each main point before you begin to write.

Practice 7

Introduction

Create a detailed outline for the model essay on pages 129–130. Attention-getter

Thesis statement

Paragraph 1

Support 1

Support 2

Support 3

Topic sentence

Paragraph 2

Development (body paragraphs)

Topic sentence

Support 1

Support 2

Support 3

Conclusion

Summary

Memorable statement

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Write It! STEP 6

CREATE AN ESSAY OUTLINE

Create an essay outline for the topic you chose in Write It! Step 1.

Write It! STEP 7

WRITE THE ESSAY

Once you have crafted your thesis statement and created your essay outline, write your essay on a separate piece of paper. Your essay should be about 450 words and contain four to ve paragraphs.

Revising and Editing When you revise an essay, you reread it to make sure that all of the ideas are clear, connected, and well organized. Then you edit it by checking for mistakes and correcting them. Use the Revising and Editing Checklists at the back of the book to help you.

Revise and Edit It! STEP 8

REVISE AND EDIT THE ESSAY

Revise and edit the student essay “We Gossip Our Lives Away!” • Read the essay carefully and answer the questions about essay style and organization that follow each part. • Then reread the essay and nd these 14 language errors: six verb errors, four singular-plural noun errors, and four spelling errors. Cross out each error and write the correction above.

We Gossip Our Lives Away! Introduction In cheesy high school movies, we often picture the popular and mean girls gossiping about everything and everyone. However, rumour has it that it don’t only happen in movies, but in our real tangible lifes, and that it happen to all of us. As a matter of fact, gossiping has many hurtful consequence on both the victims and the gossiper. 1. Does this introduction contain an effective attention-getter? Explain your answer.

2. Is the thesis statement clear and focused?

3. What is the subject of this essay?

4. What two points do you expect to be explained in this essay?

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Paragraph 1 Firstly, gossips have lasting negative effects on its victim. Having people talk behind your back can causes many consequences, such as insomnia, headaches, stomach aches, exhaustion, and panic attacks. Some victims believe that their only choice is to drop out of school because they can’t face the harmful rumeurs that are being spread about them. Also, their self-esteem can decrease signicantly and the victim has a hard time seeing themselves in a positive light. 5. Does this paragraph contain a clear topic sentence? If so, underline it. 6. How does the author support or prove the topic sentence?

Paragraph 2 Secondly, the person gossiping about others is also negatively impacted by his or her actions. According to Anna Godbersen, “Gossip is just a tool to distract people who have nothing better to do than feel jealous of those few of us still remaining with noble hearts.” By encouraging hurtful comments, the gossiper doesn’t increases her self-esteem, but only becomes more self-centred and cruel. By talking behind someone’s back, we hurt societe in general by placing jugements before tolerance and making this world even more supercial than it already is. 7. Does this paragraph contain a clear topic sentence? If so, underline it. 8. How does the author support or prove the topic sentence?

Conclusion In conclusion, gossip is all around us and has many hurtful consequences on its victims and on our society. Since life is not a high school movie, but a place where our actions have real repercussions, lets all make an effort to limit our negative chatter about others and to focus on encouraging positive and optimistic thoughts about ourselves and others instead. 9. Does this conclusion summarize the main points of the essay? 10. Does it end with a memorable statement or question? Explain your answer.

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mproving Your

mproving Your Essay mproving Your Improving Your Essay Essay

Improving Your 2 Improving Improving Your EssayEssay WRITING FILES

Revising for Unity and Cohesion Once you have written the rst draft of your essay, you need to revise it to ensure that it is unied and cohesive. Reread it to make sure that all of the ideas are clear, connected, and well organized, and express what you really want to say. Unity ensures that all the ideas are related. • An essay is unied when all the ideas relate to the central idea or thesis statement. • A paragraph is unied when every sentence develops the point made in the topic sentence. The paragraph must have a single focus and contain no irrelevant facts. Cohesion is the logical, smooth, natural ow from one idea to the other in your essay. You can use helpful words and expressions to guide the reader through your text. • Transition words help to connect sentences and paragraphs. They create a clear and cohesive text. Choose your transition words from the chart on page 141. • Coordinators, such as and, but, or, yet, and so, help connect ideas within a sentence. Today, people hide behind their virtual devices and connect with hundreds of friends, but are they really communicating? • Subordinators, such as although, after, unless, until, and because, join a subordinate idea to a main idea in a sentence. Be sure to dress for success because it takes only three seconds to form a rst impression. Ask yourself these questions to verify the unity and cohesion of your essay: 1. Does every detail support the main idea? 2. Have I eliminated all ideas, sentences, or paragraphs that are not related to my thesis statement? 3. Is the organization of my ideas clear and logical? 4. Is the relationship between my ideas clear? 5. Do I use transition words and expressions to guide the reader?

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Transition Words Transition words help to connect ideas. They create a clear and coherent text. They are like the turn signals on a car—they let people know where you are going. Here are some transitional words and expressions that will make your writing more coherent and easier to read.

Practice 1 Put a check mark next to the transition words and expressions that you know and already use in your writing. Look up any unfamiliar words or expressions in a dictionary. Write the denitions or translations in the spaces provided.

rst

next

in the rst place

then

second

meanwhile

third

nally

also

moreover

furthermore

in addition

as well

including

for example

to illustrate

for instance

in fact

although

on the other hand

however

nevertheless

therefore

thus

consequently

so

clearly

certainly

in fact

undoubtedly

to conclude

in short

to sum up

in conclusion

Chronology

Addition

Example

Contrast

Result

Emphasis

Conclusion

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Write It! Write a sentence using each transition word and expression. 1. even though

2. whereas

3. on the contrary

4. hence

5. likewise

Practice 2 Revise this paragraph by lling in the missing transition words and expressions. More than one answer may be possible.

Would You Take a Pill if It Made You Smarter? According to an article from BBC News, a company called Foresight, which predicts trends and developments, believes that healthy people, might one day take drugs to boost their intelligence.

(addition) children, (emphasis), the

Foresight people think that, depending on the development of the drugs, within twenty years taking “cognitive enhancers” could become as common as drinking coffee. It’s not so surprising, (contrast), when you consider that some drugs are already known to aid mental performance. Ritalin, with attention decit hyperactivity disorder, is college students to improve their performance in exams.

(example), prescribed to children (addition) used by (addition),

Modanil, a drug used now to treat sleep disorders, helps people remember numbers more effectively. (emphasis), this is an ethical issue. Should healthy people be allowed to use a drug to gain an advantage over others? Scientists say it could raise issues for kids at school. They might be asked to take drug tests before taking exams, just like athletes do, to see if they’ve taken any performance-enhancing substances.

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Practice 3 Revise this paragraph, which is missing a clear topic sentence and lacks unity and cohesion. 1. Create an effective topic sentence about youth and the media. 2. Eliminate any unrelated, unclear, or illogical ideas. 3. Reorganize the information so the relationship between the ideas is clear. 4. Incorporate and highlight transition words to show the relationship between one idea and the next.

In a way, this impression is the media’s fault. In general, the image that we have about something comes from something we have already seen or heard. The media does not give a fair portrayal of young people. Popular movies often portray teenagers as being in gangs, and being violent. These action movies are a lot of fun to watch. We should not show these inaccurate and harmful stereotypes about visible minorities. Kids are very inuenced by what they see. They are stereotyped as drug addicts and aggressive people but it is only a part of them who are like that. According to Statistics Canada both youth homicide and youth charged with property offences have steadily decreased over the years. Negative stereotypes not only affect how adults see teenagers, they inuence how teenagers see themselves.

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Revising for Vocabulary and Word Choice Accurate word choice and the appropriate use of the language play major roles in creating a clear, interesting, and well-written document. This section focuses on aspects of vocabulary acquisition and word choice that will make you a better writer and make your texts more pleasurable to read.

Informal vs. Standard English Informal English is appropriate in casual conversation, but you should avoid it in your essays and other formal academic writing. • Do not use slang or informal language. Informal:

In today’s consumer society, even kids think they need lots of stuff.

Standard:

In today’s consumer society, even children think they need many possessions.

• Use standard verb forms.

Standard

Informal

is/am/are not

ain’t

going to

gonna

want to

wanna

have to

gotta

would have

woulda

have got to

have gotta

• Do not use double negatives. Do not combine a negative word such as no or nothing with a negative adverb such as not or never. Correct

Incorrect

He has no fun. / He doesn’t have any fun.

He does not have no fun.

We didn’t see anything.

We didn’t see nothing.

Practice 4 Write a standard English word to replace each informal word or expression. 1. boss

4. guys

2. fun

5. freaked out

3. job

6. cash

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Revise and Edit It! Edit this paragraph by crossing out all informal English words and replacing them with standard forms.

Many people wanna be happier with their life. They spend large amounts of cash on insignicant stuff in the hopes that they will feel happiness. However, they gotta be careful what they wish for because there is more to life than consuming goods. People need to look beyond themselves and not become freaked out when they have a bad day. A more awesome quest would be to try to make a difference in the lives of others. This doesn’t take no money at all and brings a much greater feeling of satisfaction.

False Cognates Cognates are words in different languages that share a similar meaning, spelling, and pronunciation. For example, the English noun athlete has the same meaning as the French noun athlete and the Spanish noun atleta.

Refer to REAL 3 Grammar Reference and Practice, unit 9.

False cognates are words that look similar in different languages but have different meanings. Avoid using these words incorrectly. Correct

Incorrect

I asked the teacher to give me homework.

I demanded the teacher to give me homework.

Practice 5 Underline and correct the false cognate in each sentence. Refer to your dictionary to help you. 1. I can’t assist class today because I am ill. 2. I have a formation in CPR. I learned it in swimming lessons. 3. Did you receive the publicity for the new restaurant? 4. I would like to join the Red Cross organism in order to assist others. 5. There was a lot of circulation on the bridge; that is why I am late. 6. It is my dream to become a medicine one day, so I am studying health sciences. 7. How much vacancy time do you get as a CEGEP teacher? 8. I’m sorry I hurt your feelings. I didn’t know you were so sensible. 9. It was very gentle of you to help me. 10. She purchased her English books at the library.

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Commonly Confused Words Like most languages, English has many commonly confused words. Some of the confusion comes from homophones, which are words that are pronounced the same but have different meanings and spellings. English also has words that have similar meanings but are used in different contexts.

Practice 6 Look at this list of commonly confused words. Write the correct word in each sentence. Use a dictionary if in doubt. 1. accept

except

Everyone

2. advice

advise

I should listen to your

3. desert

dessert

I hope we have apple pie for

4. its

it’s

Put on a coat,

5. look at

watch

Would you like to

6. make

do

I’m sorry I

7. memory

souvenir

I have a wonderful

8. principal

principle

What is the

9. say

tell

Sarah

success

I hope to have a lot of

10. succeed

my brother is coming to the party. more often. tonight. cold outside. TV with me tonight? a mistake. I will correct it. of my childhood. idea of this short story? me you received 80 per cent on your exam. in my life.

Using a Thesaurus A thesaurus helps you avoid repetition in your writing and makes your writing more vivid, interesting, and academic. Regular use of a thesaurus will help you increase your vocabulary and improve your written texts. For example, the common verb see can be replaced by discover, notice, observe, or perceive. Choose synonyms carefully as no two words have exactly the same meaning. Use a thesaurus in conjunction with a good dictionary when you choose an unfamiliar word or phrase to be sure you choose the word with the correct meaning for the context.

Practice 7 Replace the bolded vocabulary words with a more descriptive word. Use a thesaurus to help you. 1. We walked leisurely through the park together. 2. We ate a good meal at the restaurant. 3. The party was really fun. 4. The teacher talks too softly. I can’t understand him. 5. My students this year are great.

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Essay TypesEssay Type EssayTypes Types Essay Essay Types Essay Types Essay Essay Essay Types Essay Type WRITING FILES

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Compare Four Main Essay Types

Features or Special Characteristics

Purpose

Now that you have learned the steps to writing an essay, it is important to understand the characteristics of the different types of essays. There are four main types of essays. To determine the type of essay you will write, you must clearly understand your goal in writing and the special features and character istics of each essay type that will help you reach your goal. Do you want to tell about a personal experience, describe a family vacation, explain how to do something, or convince the reader to accept a certain viewpoint? The four essay types address these writing goals. However, the categories are not always separate and distinct, but often overlap. Study the chart below.

Narrative Essay

Descriptive Essay

Expository Essay

Argument and Persuasive Essay

Tell a Story

Paint a Picture

Give the Facts

Convince

Tells a story about a real-life personal experience to illustrate a point

Paints a picture with words to try to communicate a deeper meaning through the description

Presents balanced, unbiased information on a topic

Convinces reader to accept the writer’s point of view or recommendation

• Is usually written in the rst person

• Engages all the senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch)

• Is based on facts and not personal feelings

• Proves a point using facts and logic, as well as examples, expert opinion, and sound reasoning

• Involves the reader by making the story as vivid as possible • The subject is the point made, not the story being told.

• Uses vivid, descriptive vocabulary

• Denes a topic, using facts, statistics, and examples

• Appeals to the reader’s • The author doesn’t emotions and makes a reveal personal lasting impression emotions or write in the rst person.

• Uses persuasive or convincing language • Draws a conclusion for the reader

When To Use This Essay Type

• Avoids the you pronoun To describe anything from a single, lifeshaping event to a mundane experience

To describe what something is, or how something happened

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• For a wide range of informative or factual essay types • For the cause-andeffect essay, and the “how to” or process essay

To give an opinion or convince others to consider a point of view

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Possible Topics

Narrative Essay

Descriptive Essay

Expository Essay

Argument and Persuasive Essay

Tell a Story

Paint a Picture

Give the Facts

Convince

• My grandma’s farmhouse

• A tree in my backyard

• Why volcanoes erupt

• The Inuit people

• My near-death experience at the beach

• A hot fudge sundae

• The science of whistleblowing • How to cope with stress

• Private school is better than public school. • Cats are better than dogs.

• Technology is replacing face-to-face communi• How to perform well in cation. a job interview

• My rst day at college • An embarrassing moment

Example

• The trek of my life In the middle of northern Spain, halfway through a ve-hundred-mile walk along the Camino de Santiago … I was exhausted, tapped out, reduced to a weeping mess. I literally shook my st at the heavens and cursed whatever God it was I halfbelieved in.

I open the door to the community centre and free my face and head from the layers that have frozen together from the moisture of my breath … The room smells of coffee and sealskin boots and is lled with the usual bustle and good humour of an Inuit gathering. (Unit 1, page 7)

Like Snowden, who has been described as quiet and shy, whistleblowers tend to be introverted types. They are typically male, and rather ordinary men at that, who nd themselves in extraordinary situations. Research on whistleblowers suggests that they are responding to a higher calling …

We live in a technological universe in which we are always communicating. And yet we have sacriced conversation for mere connection. (Unit 2, page 30)

(Unit 3, page 56)

(Unit 1, page 9)

Practice 1 Read these passages from texts in Real Skills Book 3. Below each passage, write the essay type to which it corresponds best. Indicate the features that made you choose this essay type. 1. The world, we are told, is in the midst of a revolution. The new tools of social media have reinvented social activism. When ten thousand protesters took to the streets in Moldova in the spring of 2009 to protest against their country’s Communist government, the action was dubbed the Twitter Revolution, because of the means by which the demonstrators had been brought together. Where activists were once dened by their causes, they are now dened by their tools. But there is something else at work here, in the outsized enthusiasm for social media. Fifty years after one of the most extraordinary episodes of social upheaval in American history, we seem to have forgotten what activism is. (Unit 4, page 63) a. Essay type: b. Features:

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2. I suppose the seeds of my decision to give up money—not just cash but any form of monetary credit—were sown seven years ago, in my nal semester of a business and economics degree in Ireland, when I stumbled upon a DVD about Gandhi. He said we should “be the change we want to see in the world.” Trouble was, I hadn’t the faintest idea what change I wanted to be back then. I spent the next ve years managing organic food companies, but by 2007, I realized that even “ethical business” would never be quite enough. The organic food industry, while a massive stepping stone to more ecological living, was rife with some of the same environmental aws as the conventional system it was trying to usurp—excess plastic packaging, massive food miles, big businesses buying up little ones. (Unit 4, page 73) a. Essay type: b. Features: 3. Grandmother tottered into the room. Her face looked like a dried plum, and her back bent so far forward that she and I saw eye to eye. “Help your grandmother,” Mama ordered. “See if she needs anything.” Even though I had just made a promise to myself, I hesitated. Grandmother’s gums were sour and sticky in the mornings, and no one wanted to get near her. I sidled up to her, holding my breath, but she waved me away impatiently. I moved so quickly that I bumped into my father. (Unit 5, page 98)

a. Essay type: b. Features:

Practice 2 What type of essay would you write for each of these topics and why? 1. How to become bilingual

2. My rst day at the Québec Winter Carnival

3. The waiting room at the hospital

4. Should we strive for an egalitarian society?

5. My ideal roommate

6. Technology is making us isolated and lonely.

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Descriptive

Expository

Argumentative and Persuasive

Make a point

Take a viewpoint

Stay neutral

Take a position

The role of the thesis statement

The goal of your story is to make a point that others can relate to or learn from. This point or purpose must be made clear in your thesis statement.

Choose a viewpoint for your description and describe what you see from that angle.

The goal of an expository thesis statement is to clearly state what you intend to explain or demonstrate.

Your goal is either to get the reader to understand and respect your opinion on a debatable issue (argument essay) or to persuade them to change their behaviour (persuasive essay).

Ask yourself what you learned about the event or how it changed you or your perception. This then becomes the thesis statement or point of your story.

Be sure your thesis statement focuses on a specic item to be described and appeals to the reader’s emotions.

Write a thesis statement that makes it clear what your readers are about to learn.

Write a statement that clearly states your point of view and contains the main arguments.

Money problems, death of a family member, and a new job are three major causes of stress.

High school graduates should be required to take a year off to travel, in order to increase their maturity and global awareness before entering college.

An example

Narrative

How to form the thesis statement

Special Characteristics of Thesis Statements for Different Essay Types

My night in jail forced me My childhood to reect on the true value bedroom was a of friendship. warm, safe place.

Practice 3 Evaluate each of the following statements. Indicate the type of essay: N=Narrative, D=Descriptive, E=Expository, or A=Argument. 1. My rst day in kindergarten taught me that perseverance and a few tears are all you need in life. 2. Free childcare should be available to all Canadians, as it will ensure a future of capable young adults and allow working parents to continue contributing to society. 3. Technology in the classroom creates students who are distracted and who can’t think for themselves. 4. Just thinking about the smoothness and sleek feel of my smartphone makes my hand itch to turn it on. 5. Regular sleep and a healthy diet are needed for marathon athletes to reach a personal best on race day.

Practice 4 Write two thesis statements for two different types of essays. Choose from the topics below. Before writing your thesis statement, remember to narrow the topic, nd a purpose, and decide what you want to say. 1. Couchsurng

2. Whistleblowers

3. Social activism

4. Storytelling

5. Gossip

Write It! Write an essay using one of the types covered in this Writing File 3. You may use the same topic as in Practice 4.

150 WRITING FILES 3 Essay Types

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The Response Ess

This section will review the features of the response essay. A response essay is your response to or analysis of a work of ction. All well-written short ction follows a similar pattern and contains certain elements. Analyzing these brings a better understanding of the story. Study the chart below to learn more about the common characteristics of each story element and how these are featured in a response essay.

Characteristics

Story Elements The Plot What happens in the story?

In short ction, the plot develops in a predictable manner: Introduction: describes the setting and characters Rising Action: a conict occurs and tension increases

Features of the Response Essay When you write an essay about the plot of a story, you describe what happens in the story (and why) by referring to its special characteristics. You also need to consider how the plot inuences or reinforces the theme or main message of the story.

Climax: the high point of the story Falling Action: tension decreases Conclusion: the situation stabilizes

The Characters Who are the actors?

The protagonist or hero usually struggles against the antagonist or villain. Dynamic characters evolve and change during the story, whereas static characters do not.

Consider what the main character learns, how he or she changes or evolves, and how this character’s past or background affects him or her. Explain the role the secondary characters play in the story.

The Setting Where and when does it take place?

The time, place, culture, historical reference and even weather can all be important aspects in a short story.

Reect on the social or historical context of the story and think about how the time and place inuence the outcome.

The Theme What is the main meaning or message?

Most authors do not explicitly state the theme of the story. Instead, the reader must discover or interpret the theme based on situations that occur and the characters’ reaction to them.

A statement of theme should express a universal truth, make a point, and be supported by the story elements.

Some stories have more than one theme.

Think about the following: • How do the main characters evolve or what do they learn about life? • Is there anything the characters say that might reveal the main message of the story? • Does the title have a deeper meaning?

Literary Devices Does the author use devices such as personication, similes, metaphors, symbolism, ashbacks, imagery, or irony?

Authors commonly use literary devices to help convey their message. These devices help the reader appreciate, interpret, and analyze short ction.

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When you write about literary devices, analyze how the device inuences or vehicles the main message. Ask yourself why the author chose to use this device and what impact it has on the reader.

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Decide Which Elements to Cover The rst step after analyzing the story elements is to choose an aspect to write about. You can develop a response essay on one or more of the elements listed in the chart on page 151. • You may choose to demonstrate how the characters, setting, plot, and literary devices work together to illustrate an important theme. • You may prefer to do a cultural or historical analysis in order to demonstrate what this story tells us about gender, class, or race issues in the past or present. • You may opt to do an in-depth character analysis to demonstrate a universal human condition or desire. • You could also decide to analyze the literary devices and the inuence they have on the reader or on the message of the story.

Create a Thesis Statement The next step is to develop a strong thesis statement. It should state the author and title of the work, the focus of your analysis, and the point of view you wish to defend. Through satire, irony, and black humour, Vonnegut demonstrates in “Harrison Bergeron” that our quest for an egalitarian society is futile and even dangerous.

Structure the Response Essay The introduction should contain: • the title and author of the literature you are discussing • a strong opening statement or attention-grabber that captures the reader’s attention • a thesis statement that is arguable, supportable, and original • a concise plot summary that familiarizes the reader with the story Each body paragraph should comprise: • a clear topic sentence that gives the paragraph structure and focus and relates to the thesis statement • direct evidence to support your thesis, such as quotations from the book • a clear analysis of how these quotations support your thesis • transition words to guide the reader from one idea to another The conclusion should include: • a brief summary of the main points • a thought-provoking question or relevant personal observation in the closing line Remember: • to use the present tense when talking about story events • not to use the rst-person pronoun I • to revise and edit your essay

Write It! Write a response essay to a work of short ction or poetry found in this Real Skills Book 3. It could be a Canadian text from the Anthology section on pages 153–175 as well.

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WRITING FILES 4 The Response Essay

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Table of Contents

MOVIE REVIEW

Mommy’s Success Gives Xavier Dolan Direction ............................................................ 154 By Brendan Kelly SONG LYRICS

Escarpment Blues ................................................................................................................ 157 By Sarah Harmer POEM

Saskatoon Bus Depot: 8 a.m. Sunday ............................................................................... 159 By Lesley Choyce SHORT STORY

Girl Who Loved Her Horses ................................................................................................ 161 By Drew Hayden Taylor NEWS ARTICLE (EDITORIAL)

One Student’s Story of Survival Against All Odds .......................................................... 167 By Nancy Macdonald PLAY

Fault Lines: Faroe Islands—Dara (Excerpt) ....................................................................... 171 By Nicolas Billon

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ANTHOLOGY

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MOVIE REVIEW Xavier Dolan is a Canadian actor and writer from Québec who is best known for J’ai tué ma mère, a movie for which he was both the director and screenwriter. His lm Mommy won the Jury Prize at Cannes. Dolan has been an actor since the age of twelve, having starred in commercials and even done voice dubbing in Québécois French.

The introductory sentence presents the topic in a way that entices the audience to continue reading. features (n.) lms shown at a movie theatre Hitchcockian (adj.) resembling an Alfred Hitchcock lm

Language is descriptive and evocative but trite words (such as nice or good) are avoided. The intended audience will decide to see the lm or not based on the review.

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Outside sources are used to corroborate the author’s point of view, which is usually subjective or biased in an opinion text.

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taking a breather (exp.) taking a break or rest went haywire (exp.) went out of control

Opinion statements reinforce the author’s point of view. stutter (n.) speech impediment that causes repetitions of sounds or syllables lurking (v.) lingering; hanging around undetected

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ANTHOLOGY

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A movie review is a subjective, opinion-based information text whose purpose is to persuade readers toward the author’s point of view. This movie review examines a lm by a well-known Québec lmmaker.

Mommy’s Success Gives Xavier Dolan Direction

By Brendan Kelly

ommy is a game-changer—a life-changer—of a lm for Xavier Dolan. When I met the 25-year-old lmmaker just before the lm’s première at the Cannes Film Festival in May, Dolan was talking about taking a break, about stepping back from the showbiz madness for a bit, maybe enrolling in a few art history courses at McGill. He was visibly exhausted and with good reason. He’s made ve features in the past six years, with four having their world première at Cannes and the other, the Hitchcockian thriller Tom à la ferme, making its bow at the prestigious Venice Film Festival last year. He hasn’t stopped for a nanosecond since he began writing his rst feature, J’ai tué ma mère, as a 17-year-old CEGEP dropout. So it made perfect sense that he was thinking of taking a breather. Then Mommy hit the Croisette and Dolan’s already-booming career went positively haywire. The crazily intense drama about a tough, working-class single mother and her unhinged teenage son was greeted with near universally ecstatic reviews from the world’s press and it went on to win the Jury Prize at Cannes, generally considered to be the equivalent of the third most important award for lms in the competition. The Guardian critic gushed: “It is another notable triumph for Dolan. Prodigies don’t get much more prodigious than this.” The Hollywood Reporter was just as enthused: “This explosively emotional portrait of a troubled mother-son relationship is 25-year-old director Xavier Dolan’s most substantial work to date.” Los Angeles trade paper Variety was also very upbeat in its review, calling Mommy “a funny, heartbreaking and, above all, original work ... that feels derivative of no one, not even himself.” When we met this week, he’d just been at the small but inuential Telluride Festival in Colorado for the North American premiere of Mommy and the day after the Montréal premiere, he was off to the Toronto Film festival for the gala screening there. In a few weeks, he and his lead actors will be heading to France to bang the promotional drum for the release there and he’s hoping that he may be forced to spend some time in Los Angeles in the coming months if Mommy manages to gain some awards-season traction. “Obviously you feel a huge amount of love and acknowledgement from your peers,” said Dolan. “It’s all very positive and inspiring. I just hope now that people will go see it.” Mommy packs real visceral force and it achieves that emotional resonance with a remarkably minimalist story. It’s a three-hander about a struggling mother, her teenage son who has a bad case of attention decit disorder, and an enigmatic neighbour. Diane “Die” Després (Anne Dorval) is trying to keep it together, raising a teenage son, Steve (Antoine Olivier Pilon), who can be amazingly charming one second and then transform Hulk-like into a raging, violent lunatic the next. The unusual trio is rounded out by Kyla (Suzanne Clément), a troubled woman from across the street with a bad stutter. There is clearly something dark and disturbing lurking in the recesses of her consciousness.

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On paper, it sounds like Mommy has a lot in common with Dolan’s debut feature J’ai tué ma mère, which also starred his muse Dorval as a single mom grappling with a mucked-up teenage son (played in that case by Dolan himself). But the two lms are really quite different. “Firstly there are such differences in terms of social strata,” said Dolan. “The story of Mommy doesn’t have the same background, they don’t have the same lives. It’s another genre. It’s a real drama and the stakes are higher. I Killed My Mother was very anecdotal. I did write Mommy with (Anne Dorval) in mind and I wanted her to be as different as possible from her character in I Killed My Mother. And she was challenged and inspired by the fact that these two women were completely different. Their battles are so different. They don’t have the same education. They don’t have the same background nancially or sociologically. They’re two completely different movies and two completely different roles. They’re opposite worlds.” Dorval has known Dolan for a decade now and they have a very close relationship. “He’s often at my house,” said Dorval. “He’s really become part of my family. He’s like a big brother. He sees me as a mother. And maybe that inspires him, too.” But Die couldn’t be more different from Dorval herself. With her salty language and rough edge, she seems light years removed from the sophisticated actress. “It’s not my life,” said Dorval. “Her milieu is really far removed from my milieu. But Die is a wolf, she’s someone who’s very strong. She doesn’t complain. She’s never depressed. I think this is Xavier’s way of defending all of these women who are on their own, who have to bring up kids by themselves.” It was challenging for Dorval but she’s not grumbling. “It was the most beautiful role I’ve ever had,” she said. The trio is completed by Kyla, this buttoned-down woman who nds herself drawn into the web of this intense mother-son relationship. “It’s really about how they inuence each other,” said Clément, who plays Kyla. “My character is so different from the two others but she somehow allows the mother and son to reach a certain equilibrium. There is something really broken inside her. But we wanted to keep it mysterious. She’s not someone who really opens up to anyone.” It’s all about this triangle of characters, said Dolan. “I didn’t want to do a duo because that would’ve been dooming Mommy to supercial comparisons to J’ai tué ma mère. So I think we’ve really struck that out. From the beginning, I wanted each of the three characters to be as important as any of the other characters. So each of the three performances is very different because the characters are so different. It’s a movie about friendship.”

A movie review compares previous works by the lmmaker to the current movie.

The lead actors are wellpresented in a movie review.

The main characters are briey described without revealing too much about the lm.

993 words

Comprehension 1. Explain the rst sentence of the movie review. What is its specic function?

2. Why is Dolan taking a break from movies?

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3. How does Dolan respond to the reactions to his lm?

4. What is the lm Mommy about, according to the author?

5. How does Mommy compare to Dolan’s rst lm? Give examples.

6. What is Dolan’s relationship with the lead actress?

7. How does Dolan describe the lm?

8. Find three examples in the review of language that supports the author’s point of view.

Between the Lines

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ANTHOLOGY

1.

How much of the story is included in the review, and why?

2.

Was the author successful in convincing his audience? Explain why.

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SONG LYRICS

Fiction, such as poetry or song lyrics, is literature that comes from the imagination or memory, although it may also contain facts. This song is a form of protest against a proposed quarry development near the author’s hometown.

Escarpment Blues

By Sarah Harmer

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The lyrics are structured in stanzas, which are patterned units that give the song a certain rhythm.

f they blow a hole in my backyard Everyone is gonna run away The creeks won’t ow to the Great Lake below Will the water in the wells still be okay?

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creeks (n.) streams of running water smaller than rivers

We’ll need to build some new apartments And I know we’re gonna have to x the roads But if we blow a hole in the escarpment The wild ones won’t have anywhere to go

Colloquial or informal language is used for dramatic effect or impact. Repetition of words or a whole chorus is used for dramatic effect and emphasis of key points. The literary device of personication is used to attribute human qualities to the land, a backbone.

If they blow a hole in the backbone The one that runs cross the muscles of the land We might get a load of stone for the road But I don’t know how much longer we can stand We’ll keep driving on the Blind Line If we don’t know where we want to go Even knowledge that’s sound can get watered down Truth can get sucked out the car window

escarpment (n.) long, cliff-like ridge of land, commonly formed by a crack in the earth’s crust

We’re two-thirds water What do we really need? But sun, showers, soil and seed We’re two-thirds water The aquifers provide Deep down in the rock There’s a pearl inside

Blind Line (proper n.) neighbourhood in the city of Burlington, Ontario get watered down (exp.) become diluted or less potent aquifers (n.) geological formations containing groundwater that supplies wells or springs

If they blow a hole in the backbone The one that runs across the muscles of the land We might get a load of stone for the road But I don’t know how much longer we can stand 202 words

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Canadian singersongwriter and activist Sarah Harmer is from Burlington, Ontario. Her song “Escarpment Blues” was later made into a documentary by the same name, winning a Juno for Best Music DVD in 2007.

The literary device of symbolism makes the audience think more deeply about the issues being presented.

ANTHOLOGY

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Comprehension 1. Why does Harmer make a reference to her backyard?

2. What are “the wild ones”?

3. What are the “backbone” and the “muscles” of the land?

4. What is the “knowledge that’s sound” which “can get watered down”?

5. What fact does Harmer use to support her argument?

6. What is the pearl symbolic of?

Between the Lines 1.

To stand has a double meaning: a. to be upright b. to put up with or tolerate something Which meaning is the author referring to in the last line of her lyrics? Support your answer.

2.

158 ANTHOLOGY

Do people listen when a celebrity sings about an issue? How effective is music in getting a reaction? Give an example to illustrate your point of view.

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POEM

Poetry is dened as being characterized by great beauty of language or expression. William Wordsworth once dened poetry as “the spontaneous overow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.” On a practical note, a poem employs literary devices, and may have a certain rhythm or style. This poem by Lesley Choyce is taken from his collection of poetry titled Beautiful Sadness.

Saskatoon Bus Depot: 8 a.m. Sunday

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Canadian author Lesley Choyce was born in New Jersey in 1951. He has written forty books for adults and young adults, one of which, The Republic of Nothing, is being made into a movie. He also teaches and hosts a television talk show in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

By Lesley Choyce

he Parktown Hotel’s grown sterile in the night; instead I slip to empty streets and something terminal like this, the nervous confusion of women in a hall brooding over hour-long coffee waiting for home— for Warham and Longham, for Biggar and Lanks, Humboldt and Smeaton, Carrot River, Nebo, Choiceland, Cutknife or Livelong.

brooding (v.) thinking about with depressing or painful memories

The literary device of imagery is used for dramatic effect and impact. Descriptive language such as adjectives and adverbs are often used in poetry.

I’m at home here with the dispossessed— the bug-eyed lady with her head wrapped in a white towel, the hundred year old man smiling at his toast, the grizzled farmer rolling cigarettes with one hand and the young, chubby sweetheart short-order cook with eyes cut out from magazines. I feel community in the sad restaurant with all the sippers and smokers, the bare-sted bacon grabbers and sports-page sleaze.

grizzled (adj.) having grey or partly grey hair sleaze (n.) indecent or immoral material, conditions, or behaviour mewls (v.) like a baby

cries or whimpers

wayward (adj.) disobedient, turned away from what is right

The literary device of per­ sonication attributes human qualities to an inanimate element. Here the radio makes the sound of a kitten.

Outside the glass, a car stops and a man who looks like Farley Mowat rells a bin with Plain Truth while Red Sovine on the radio mewls heartbreak and loss. All day that country station will catalogue wasted love and wayward lives while inside the Saskatoon Bus Depot Restaurant the Prairies collect in tabled rows, tea cups steam in October sun and dreams are swept up with moody brooms.

Onomatopoeia, or the repetition of different words with similar vowel sounds, is present. Metaphors which, like similes, compare items (but without the use of the words like or as), are incorporated in the poem.

The settlers here know comfort’s short on change, that waiting’s only ever half the size of life and cities lie to country eyes more xed on drying elds of wheat and rye and winter’s meaner passion waiting at home.

rye (n.)

widely cultivated cereal

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ANTHOLOGY

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Comprehension 1. Why did the author leave the Parktown Hotel? Explain in your own words.

2. What is the meaning of the word “terminal” (line 2)?

3. Who are the “dispossessed,” simply put? How else does the author refer to them?

4. Why does he feel community inside the restaurant?

5. What mood is the author trying to create in the restaurant? Complete the chart.

Mood

Examples from the Text

Sadness

Hopelessness

Discomfort

6. What parallel or contrast is made in the last stanza?

Between the Lines

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1.

Explain the metaphor “waiting’s only ever half the size of life.”

2.

What is “winter’s meaner passion”? Explain.

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SHORT STORY

A short story is an example of literature that is written in prose form, meaning that it has no formal structure. It has a natural ow, contains normal everyday speech, and uses conventional grammar. This short story is taken from Fearless Warriors, the author’s collection of short stories.

Girl Who Loved Her Horses

Playwright, screenwriter, and author Drew Hayden Taylor is an Ojibway from Peterborough, Ontario. His extensive works have won many awards, including a Governor General’s Award for Drama.

By Drew Hayden Taylor

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om was kind of strange, and as a result she attracted other strange people. Every Indian reserve in Canada has its share of strange individuals, just like any other town, but Mom sort of collected them like my sister’s room collects dust bunnies. And it was through one of Mom’s peculiarities that I met Danielle, so many years ago. As a way of encouraging us kids to expand and develop our artistic nature, Mom set aside part of her beloved kitchen as a private art school. Near the back door, beside our antiquated refrigerator, was what she called “The Everything Wall.” To eleven-year-old children, reality was what you made it, and mother understood that. It was just a strip of wall, about three feet high and four feet long, just underneath where the wallpaper started. It was painted white, and near the baseboard there was always a package of pencil crayons. Our job, and that of pretty well every kid in the village, was to keep “The Everything Wall” stocked with people, places and things. There was a neverending stream of kids in our kitchen, all anxious to do the once forbidden but now legal act of drawing on kitchen walls. And every Monday she would get my father to paint it white again. Tuesday belonged to my sister and me. That was our day, and our day alone to draw the rst images on that sacred virgin white wall. The other village kids could do what they wanted the rest of the week. That’s how we met Danielle. By “we” I mean William and I. William, not Billy or Willy as he always stressed, and I were best friends way back then. Nothing happened in the reserve that we didn’t know about, participate in or deny knowing anything about. It sort of set the stage for William’s later election as Chief. To us, Danielle was kind of strange. But it was nothing an eleven-year-old could put his nger on. She was quiet, and seemed to be one of those characters you see in the comics with a little cloud over her head. Nobody ever paid much attention to her, she would just come and go. She was from across the railroad tracks in the non-status community. But we all went to the same school. I think I’d seen her around for about two years before we’d ever talked. And even then it was only because I’d knocked her down once accidentally when William was chasing me. Then it was a simple “sorry” and I was gone. That’s why it was such a surprise to see her walk, however timidly, in through our kitchen door. William, my sister and I were playing our own version of Crazy Eights while Mom puttered around the kitchen doing odd things but never managing to organize anything. Danielle stood there at the door, her shadow falling across the sparsely decorated “Everything Wall” (it was early in the week). I think she was as frightened as we were surprised. We’d never seen her anywhere outside of school, and none of us knew what to say or how to react. Then, as always, Mom took charge. I think it was the little lost kitten look that emanated from Danielle that attracted our Mother. “Well, hello there. I don’t believe I’ve seen you in this house before.” “She’s from across the tracks, Mom. Her name is Danielle.” Her maternal instincts in full blossom, Mom knelt down to her. Danielle looked so tiny and frightened, even we felt some inkling of sympathy for her, and you know how cliquish eleven-year-olds can be.

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The rst element of the plot of a story is the setting. It describes where the story takes place. This story is written in the rst person, from the author’s point of view. The setting includes the time period in which a story takes place, in this case, during the author’s childhood. dust bunnies (n.) loose, tangled balls of lint often found under furniture stream (n.) continuous ow of events, people, or objects

non-status community (n.) unregistered persons of Aboriginal ancestry sparsely (adj.) or distributed

thinly scattered

A static character is constant and does not evolve or change throughout the story. The second element of a plot is the rising action, a series of events that becomes complex and builds up to the conict. cliquish (adj.) associating exclusively with members of one’s own group ANTHOLOGY

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plethora (n.) or excess

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Watergate (proper n.) major political scandal in the United States in the 1970s during the Nixon administration

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mane (n.) length of hair on an animal’s neck (for example, on a horse or lion) bonre (n.)

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large outdoor re

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“Danielle. What a pretty name. And what can we do for you, Danielle?” Danielle stood there, all four feet two inches of her. To us it didn’t sound like that difcult a question, but it looked like Danielle was struggling with some eternal query of life. William snickered rudely, foreshadowing why he would not be Chief for very long. Finally Danielle, her eyes almost welling up with tears, looked to her right at “The Everything Wall.” Her voice sounded like someone had stepped on a mouse. “I heard that kids could come here and draw.” Mom stood beside us, a warming smile on her face. “I thought so. Well, it took you long enough to come and visit.” This was true. “The Everything Wall” had been in existence for over three months by then, and every kid in the village who could hold a pencil and create a thought (and a few who couldn’t) had muddied the oors of our kitchen. Mom reached over and took a handful of pencil crayons from the package on the counter. “Danielle, who are your parents?” One of Mom’s secret rules said: “In order to nd out about the child, nd out about the parents.” Mom knew most people in the village and quite a few outside, too. Danielle shifted from one foot to another uneasily. “My mother’s name is Elsie Fiddler,” she paused uncomfortably, “I don’t have a father.” Mom paused, and my sister and I noticed this. Evidently, she knew this Elsie Fiddler, and what she knew wasn’t too good. She handed the crayons to Danielle, studying her intently. At rst it looked like Danielle was going to run, but she held her ground. Something in her wanted to draw. To my sister and me, this amounted to a personal insult. It was Tuesday, we had sole right to “The Everything Wall.” Even William stayed clear of it on this day. Unwilling to accept such indignities in our own house, we started to raise a protest. The protest remained lodged in our throats when Mom gave us her patented glare. It was a look that combined several different messages in one simple glance: “I’m your mother,” “Don’t mess with me,” “Have some compassion,” “I make the rules here” and a plethora of other statements. To this day I haven’t mastered it, but I think it only comes with having children. They must teach it at the hospital. With a slight mumble that might have been a “thank you,” she took the pencils and knelt before the wall. Mom backed off and poured herself a cup of coffee. She smiled as Danielle squinted at the wall and made her rst tentative marks. But, as always, there was housework to be done and no one but her to do it. My fourteen-year-old sister, as a political statement (or so she says) refused to do housework on principle. “These are the eighties, Mom. I will not become a prisoner to the house.” She was quite emphatic about the whole thing, but I suspected that she was just lazy. The only woman I’ve ever known who got tired just going to the bathroom. The rest of us watched for a moment before we got caught up in our card game. After a while, we forgot that Danielle was even there—that’s how much noise she made, just the occasional squeak of a pencil crayon on a wall. About thirty minutes passed before my mother came back into the kitchen and inquired about the game. I was losing as usual. Back then I sort of suspected that William cheated—little did I realize that later this would become a major factor in his demotion to ex-Chief. Watergate had nothing on him. I confessed that I was losing and waited for a soothing phrase or caress, which mothers are supposed to give. There was no reply, which was odd for my mother. Mom was standing over us, staring at the forgotten Danielle, her body hiding the wall. I kicked my sister and nodded towards Mom, her back still to us. “Mom?” I said, a little puzzled by her behaviour. She turned to us, with a look of amazement that I’d never seen before on her face. It was a look so few of us get in this world anymore. Below her, in front of Danielle who was putting the nishing touches on it, was the head and neck of a horse. But not just any horse. It was like no horse I had ever seen before, nor had my mother, my sister or my friends. Glowing with colour and energy, it covered a third of the wall. It seemed to radiate everything that Danielle, its creator, wasn’t. The mane owed in the breeze like ames from a bonre. The neck was solid and muscular, something that had never seen weakness, and the eyes, those eyes ashed freedom and exhilaration. They surveyed a free prairie and a horizon to run to. The picture was breathtaking, not because a ten-year-old had drawn it, but because it was

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a horse every human being on the planet wanted but could never have. Yet Danielle had captured it in her own way. After adding a few touches to the mane, in just the right places, she calmly handed what remained of the pencil crayons to my mother, who took them silently, her eyes never leaving the horse that seemed to stare back. Danielle uttered another polite “thank you” and was gone out the door. We all were left to stare for what seemed an eternity at that amazing horse. My mother knelt and touched the horse’s neck, never uttering a word. That Monday, my mother refused to let my father paint it over. My sister and I had to agree—we never got tired of looking at the power of that animal. Our father argued that we shouldn’t play favourites. If we saved one painting, what would all the other kids say? Mom didn’t listen or care, and threatened to shave my father bald when he went to sleep if he touched that painting. We children, while feeling no particular fondness for Danielle, quickly offered to let Dad paint over our drawings to show it didn’t bother us. Overcome by superior odds, Dad had to agree, though I secretly believe he, too, held a special fondness for that image. So there it stayed. All the other kids were equally amazed. “Danielle did this?” was the common question. The following Tuesday she showed up again, at about the same time. Only this time she had a bit more of an eager expression, and almost a smile. Mom was overjoyed with her arrival and proudly showed Danielle the untouched picture. Danielle stared at it, the look of eagerness and anticipation slowly washing from her face. She only uttered “it’s still here.” “Yes dear, it was too beautiful to paint over. I thought we’d save it.” Evidently this was not in Danielle’s plans. She suddenly went back to the Danielle we knew before, like a snail retreating into its shell. Mom couldn’t understand it—she had expected Danielle to be attered. Instead, there stood a small, deated little girl. “But I was told you paint it over so we can draw some more.” It was then Mom realized her mistake. For Danielle, the joy wasn’t so much in having the nished project, it was the drawing of the horse that fascinated her. She wanted the horse to be painted over so she could draw it again, and again and again. It was sort of some childlike Zen thing I suppose. That night, Mom again managed the impossible. She got Dad to whip out his paint brush one day after he’d already painted most of “The Everything Wall,” and miss his favourite wrestling show in the process. The wall was again pristine white. The next day at school my sister and I tracked down Danielle as Mother had asked. We were all curious to see if she could recreate that memorable image of the horse. We told her it had been painted over. Standing there in the hallway, struggling to look into our faces, she nodded, “oh, okay then.” She turned and ran off to her class. “What a weird bird she is,” replied my sister. I just shrugged and went on with my life. I kind of got the feeling Mom expected her to show up that afternoon after school. This so-called “weird bird” and her perfect horse had denitely made an impression on our family. Every time a gure came along the road in front of our house, my mom would casually look out to see who it was. It wasn’t until the following Tuesday that Danielle made another appearance. Again she stood at the door, barely making a noise as she opened it and closed it behind her. She smiled at us faintly, and my mother smiled back. “You know where the pencils are, Danielle, and the wall.” With scarcely more than a “yes, Ma’am,” Danielle was once again in front of “The Everything Wall.” Only this time, she had an audience. My mother, my sister, William and myself never once stood up or moved, afraid it would destroy her concentration, although I doubt anything short of a nuclear holocaust would have bothered her. She ignored us all. We sat there and watched her for forty-ve minutes and saw the birth of a horse. It was the same horse, exactly, stroke for stroke. It slowly took shape, a few broad lines gradually forming something wonderful. We were amazed. Even William, who has a snarky comment for everything, didn’t dare say a word. In the end, Danielle stood back, checked over her work, and smiled her small smile.

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The conict, or point of tension, usually comes from a complication that the protagonist must deal with, face, or overcome. Conict can be an internal or external struggle, for example, with the environment or an antagonist.

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The rising action occurs as more information about the conict is provided, leading up to the climax of the story.

stallion (n.) adult male horse sometimes used for breeding

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to christen (v.)

to baptize

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“Thank you,” was again all she said as she left. I don’t remember if we replied. We were still in awe of what that little girl had created. The same magnicent creature we saw last week was there again in front of us. Our eyes traced every line, and drank in the picture. Every Tuesday for the next year saw Danielle on her knees in our kitchen. It didn’t matter what the weather was like outside, or what was happening in the village, she was there. Gradually the thrill of seeing her create wore off, but not the effects of the nal image. Before school, going out to play, taking the garbage out, every time we went past “The Everything Wall” we would stop, even for a second, and admire “The Stallion,” as we grew to call it. Sometimes the colour changed, and maybe a slight change in the direction of the mane, but “The Stallion” itself remained virtually unchanged for that year. Once, I think in jealousy, William tried to make Danielle draw a dog, a simple dog. The always nervous Danielle capitulated and gave William something that loosely resembled a cross between an amoeba and a chicken. For Danielle it had to be a horse, that horse. “The Stallion” was part of her, and it gave her a chance to be something she really wasn’t. Sometime later William read a story, which in itself was unusual, about the Lakota warrior Crazy Horse. In the same book was an article about another great warrior cut from the same cloth, Man Afraid Of His Horses. William, with his peculiar sense of humour, decided to christen Danielle with a new name. Make her into some sort of a Warrioress for the meek, I guess. “From now on we’ll call her Girl Who Loved Her Horses. Everybody got that? That’s her new name.” Of course, after a few days, we all got bored with calling her such a long name and soon it petered out. I think Danielle was attered by such a name, but of course she never said anything about it one way or another. Then one day she stopped coming. Elsie Fiddler had met a man, got married and moved to the city, taking Danielle and “The Stallion” with her. Except for my Mom, we never grew particularly close to Danielle, no matter how much time she spent in our house. I felt we knew more about “The Stallion” than we did about her. In a bizarre way, we missed that aming animal more that we missed Danielle. It was sad, actually. We never really heard from them again. Thoughts and memories fade, and so does the need for an “Everything Wall.” A few months after Danielle left, we slowly lost interest in expressing ourselves in such a childish way. It was also a pain to bend over to draw or get down on our knees. We had outgrown it in more ways than one. We went on with our lives. High school came and went, then a year of college, and for me an engagement till she left me for a woman. William became one of the youngest chiefs ever elected, and also one of the youngest ever kicked out of ofce. He now runs a marina on the reserve, plotting coups and revolutions. Mom and Dad separated, then got back together when Sis got sick. The doctor prescribed lots of exercise for her recovery, which to my sister was worse than cod liver oil. It wasn’t till I was twenty-two that I nally gured out what I wanted to do with my life, or the next little part of it anyway. There was an opening on my reserve for a Special Constable, a police ofcer for the village. I kind of liked that idea, because I was always driving around running into deer and rabbits, but I never had a gun. I gured I could kill two birds with one stone, so I signed up. Next I was sent to Toronto for some training. Evidently it’s not kosher to just hand a gun over—you have to learn how to use it, not to mention all sorts of laws and things. After I got over the rst couple of days of culture shock, I got to like Toronto. I’d go for all these long walks, trying to gure the place out. I’d match names of streets and places with names I’d heard on the radio or television. On one of my walks I came to a place called lower Jarvis. It’s not one of the healthier or wealthier places in Toronto, but I gured who’s going to bother a six-foot, two-inch, longhaired Indian. Probably another Indian, come to think of it. I walked by hookers, drunks, pushers and a variety of other strange people who made me wonder for the thousandth time how white people could possibly have beaten us.

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I was down around Queen when this wino called to me. He was sitting against a building, almost hidden in the shadows. “Hey Buddy, got any spare change?” I thought people only said that in the movies, but, being the kind-hearted guy I am, I took a loonie out of my pocket and bent over to hand it to him. That’s when I saw what he was leaning against. It was a large brown wall, with chunks missing from the edges. The nearby street lamp illuminated most of it, but you had to be in the right position to see it properly, it was so big. There in front of me was an old friend, an old friend that had grown up big. The whole side of that wall, about nine feet high, was the head and neck of a horse, but not just any horse. “The Stallion” had returned. The spray paint looked to be less than a year old, but the eyes said it was much older. Again it was the eyes that told me something. They were darker, sharper than I recalled. “The Stallion,” I remembered, had eyes that gleamed exhilaration and freedom. Instead, this one yelled deance and anger. It glared back at me, almost like it was daring me to do something. In a way, it frightened me. The eyes wouldn’t let me go. Something in the way they watched me said dark and unspeakable things had happened in the last eleven years. Like me, both “The Stallion” and Danielle had grown up. But unlike me, I had a feeling that they had been forced to. 3351 words

wino (n.) alcoholic

homeless drunkard,

The climax, the third element of a plot, is the point of highest interest and emotion. It is the turning point of a story. The next element, the falling action, follows the climax and is the part that winds up the story. The last element of a plot is the resolution or conclusion, which is the ending of the story. It may be positive, negative, or even unclear and unresolved.

Comprehension 1. What kind of person was the author’s mother? Support your answer.

2. What was The Everything Wall? What was its purpose?

3. Who was Danielle? Why was the author’s family so impressed with her drawing?

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4. What was ironic about Danielle’s drawing?

5. What wrong assumption did the author’s mother make?

6. Why couldn’t Danielle create any different works of art?

7. What happened to The Everything Wall?

8. Why did the author think that Danielle had been forced to grow up?

Between the Lines

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1.

Why do you think Danielle only chose to draw horses?

2.

How does the ending affect you? What do you think happened to Danielle?

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NEWS ARTICLE (EDITORIAL)

Non-ction texts such as news articles and editorials are concerned with reality or truth. It is important to rst assess the source of the text to make sure the content is reliable and trustworthy. This recent feature article is from Maclean’s, a magazine that reports on current Canadian events.

One Student’s Story of Survival Against All Odds

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Originally from Winnipeg, Nancy Macdonald is an associate editor with Maclean’s. Although she began her career in Vancouver, she was educated in Montréal. Macdonald has been nominated several times for National Magazine Awards.

A catchy headline grabs the reader’s attention. By Nancy Macdonald Maclean’s

fter a suicide attempt, football became Jeremy Pearce’s sole focus and his ticket out of a dead-end life. For a while, it seemed as though Jeremy Pearce was fated to make a living hoisting boxes in a warehouse. That was before he got into Simon Fraser University, and before he won the Terry Fox gold medal for demonstrating courage in the face of adversity. Back then, Pearce, a gentle giant built like a brick wall, was working the night shift in a Walmart stockroom and struggling to pay the rent. For a stretch, he slept in his car, pushing the passenger seat back as far as it would go to make room for his six-foot-three, 360-lb. frame. A suicide attempt lit a re in Pearce, directing his focus to a single goal: earning a football scholarship that would get him out of Hamilton, far away from a childhood marked by the clichés of criminal pathology: poverty, hunger, violence, alcoholism. It is a remarkable tale of survival against all odds. Unlike most university athletes, who spend a decade or more honing their skills, Pearce had played a single year of organized football. It is a miracle he is even here to tell his story. What saved him was precisely what made him such an unstoppable force on the eld: his massive size. Pearce and his older sister grew up on a dairy farm on the outskirts of the city. His parents got divorced when Pearce was twelve. By Grade 9, Pearce was bouncing between his parents’ homes, trying to gauge the “lesser of two evils.” He changed schools three times that year, barely attending any of them. In the summer, he landed the Walmart job and moved out. After unloading boxes all night, he was too tired to get up at 7 a.m. “School was optional, but I had to work,” he says. He gured out a budget, and cut corners wherever he could. He owned one shirt and a Hamilton Tiger-Cats jersey, which he wore every day. He ate the same thing for breakfast and dinner: a box of Kraft dinner, and three wieners cut into pieces and cooked in the microwave. Still, he was always short of money. One night, Pearce opened the door to nd two men running toward him. After a scue, one put a knife to Pearce’s throat. They locked him on the balcony, ransacked his apartment and stole everything. Pearce, later diagnosed with acute post-traumatic stress, sank into a depression. He was red for missing a shift, then he lost the apartment. For months, he couch-surfed and slept in his car. Then he unked out of school. One day, Pearce turned up at his mom’s house, triggering an ugly ght between her and his stepfather. In the bedroom, he looked in the mirror and thought about how he ruined everything he touched.

The byline indicates the source of the article. The lead sentence summarizes the information and incites audience interest. An editorial does not typically follow a news style article (where important information is placed rst), but it does answer: who, what, when, where, and why. hoisting (v.)

raising or lifting

scholarship (n.) money given by an educational organization for a person’s education

The author’s choice of language and vocabulary considers the target audience of sports enthusiasts. A direct quote within open and closed quotations is used when exact wording is desired. against all odds (exp.) in spite of being very unlikely to happen honing (v.) perfecting

improving or

outskirts (n.) outer parts of a city or metropolitan area gauge (v.) or judge

appraise, estimate,

scufe (n.) not violent

short ght that is

ransacked (v.) went through and damaged or robbed

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Indirect quotes are used when exact wording is not needed.

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gurney (n.) stretcher for transporting patients took an immediate shine to (exp.) liked or was attracted to

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ringer (n.) person highly procient at a sport, brought in to supplement a team 50

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Pearce played at SFU (Simon Fraser University) in BC after playing in Ohio. 80

168 ANTHOLOGY

He swallowed pills and drove to the Hamilton airport, where he waited to die. “I had nothing to live for. I had accepted death.” His mother saw the empty pill bottles and called the police, who found him and rushed him to hospital. ER doctors were astonished Pearce was still breathing: They said he’d ingested enough drugs to kill a horse. Only his size had saved him from an overdose. Lying on a gurney, he wondered if there was a reason he had survived. He tried to picture the last time he felt happy: It was on the football eld, in Grade 9. The sport had given him an identity. It had given his chaotic, violent life a frame. Through friends, he tracked down a number for Trevor Knoll, the new coach at Bishop Tonnos Catholic Secondary School, and begged Knoll to let him try out. Knoll took an immediate shine to Pearce, who’d “clearly been through more than anyone his age.” The coach’s intentions in convincing the school to take him back were noble. But he also knew he had a ringer on his hands. Pearce was more than 100 lb. heavier than the Titans’ biggest player. His jersey barely covered his ribs, leaving his pads and belly exposed. Pearce moved in with an aunt who lived outside the school district, so Knoll started picking him up for school at 7 a.m. every day, bringing him a bagged lunch. The teen would join him in the teachers’ lounge, where he did homework for the rst time. Soon he was working through lunch, too. Until then, says Pearce, “I’d never had any men to look up to—whose behaviour I wanted to emulate.” Knoll had come to see him as “a younger brother.” It turns out that a crappy childhood was excellent preparation for football; he was combative, angry, merciless. When Knoll told him he was good enough to play university football, Pearce grabbed on to the dream. It would be his escape. He wouldn’t let it go. But no Canadian university would give Pearce a scholarship—he didn’t have the 80 per cent average that Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) requires. Pearce felt he had one shot: a preseason exhibition in Ohio against Warren G. Harding High, where football is a religion— fourteen thousand people turn out for games and cannons celebrate every victory. Eight of their players had signed scholarships with NCAA Division I schools (the elite tier), including the defensive tackle Pearce was lined up against. He would use the game to show he could compete with some of the top US freshman picks. By then, he’d been made a captain, and it’s no coincidence that the Titans were knocked out of the playoffs in the only game Pearce sat out, after taking a helmet to his knee. Pearce, now on a plane to SFU, nally allowed himself to breathe; Hamilton hadn’t crushed him, no matter how tough it had been. He started to cry, then he couldn’t stop. “People must have thought I was the strangest guy on the plane, this 360-lb. guy bawling my eyes out.” When SFU assistant coach Ron Turner met him at Vancouver airport, “he looked like he was in shock.” It was Pearce’s rst time on a plane and only the second time he’d left Ontario. On the eld, Turner could tell he was “green as grass.” Training camp, which he entered at 363 lb., “almost killed him.” By the end of the season, he was down to 298. The change wasn’t just physical. Every time he got off the eld, he was “cracking the books, rewriting notes, rereading chapters,” terried he would fail. To his shock, Pearce nished the semester with a 3.4 grade point average out of 4, which he maintained for four years. Last year, Pearce decided to repay a debt he felt he owed society for “the mistakes I made,” and “for giving me that second chance.” He raised money for Big Brother, and became one himself. Sport had been his salvation, so he raised money for the Special Olympics and founded SFU Team Up, which pairs university athletes with at-risk kids. Then he raised $1050 for Burnaby Safe House, a Hamilton shelter.

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These days, Pearce, 23, is starting a family of his own. On August 29, he proposed to his long-time girlfriend, Samantha Olexa, an SFU softball player training to be a police ofcer. This spring, they’ll both graduate with criminology-sociology degrees. Pearce hopes to join the Vancouver police department, where he’d like to work in the Downtown Eastside. “You don’t grow up wanting to live in social housing, with bedbugs, not knowing where your next meal is going to come from,” he explains. “When I say, ‘I understand,’ I mean it.” That’s the approach he takes as a program assistant at an addiction treatment centre, where twice he has convinced suicidal young men not to take their lives. Since starting at SFU, he’s only been back to Hamilton once. He loves the Lower Mainland, the hiking trails and the healthy lifestyle. But he still talks to Knoll. Every These days, Pearce, 23, is starting conversation ends the same way: “I’m so a family of his own. proud of you,” Knoll will say. “I wouldn’t be here without you,” Pearce will reply. So what would he say to the guys who put a knife to his throat six years ago? “I’d want to thank them,” he says. “It was traumatic, but, without that incident, I don’t know what avenue my life would have taken.” These days, he celebrates adversity, knowing it took a lost teen to forge an incredibly strong man.

The photo and caption create visual appeal and further interest in the story.

A closing paragraph wraps up or concludes the editorial.

1437 words

Comprehension 1. What do we know about Pearce’s childhood?

2. What was his attitude towards education?

3. Why did Pearce attempt suicide?

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4. a. What made Pearce realize that he should be doing football?

b. What impressed Knoll about Pearce?

5. What obstacle did Pearce encounter? How did he get around this problem?

6. How did being on a university football team change Pearce?

7. In what other ways has sport transformed Pearce? Name three of the ve things he was inspired to do as a result.

8. What are his future plans?

Between the Lines

170 ANTHOLOGY

1.

Are sports a way to motivate young people in school? Are there other ways beside sports?

2.

What ve questions would you ask Pearce if you could interview him?

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PLAY

A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters and intended for theatrical performance. It includes the necessary elements to determine its genre, for example, satire, tragedy, or comedy, thus making the story accessible to its live audience. This excerpt from Billon’s play Faroe Islands is a monologue about Dara, a whale activist.

Fault Lines: Faroe Islands Dara (Excerpt)

Originally from Montreal, playwright Nicolas Billon is now based in Toronto. Fault Lines: Greenland— Iceland—Faroe Islands, a collection of plays, won the 2013 Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama. His rst play, The Elephant Song, was made into a feature lm starring Xavier Dolan.

By Nicolas Billon

meeting room in a community centre. Chairs are set up in a circle. On a table are name tags, pens, cups, and a coffee dispenser. Dara greets the audience as they wander in. She’s in her early twenties, aable, and obese. Dara encourages everyone to ll out a name tag, have coffee, and take a seat. 5

So welcome everyone! I just want to say how delighted I am about the turnout, it’s really … how awesome that you all showed up, I mean, showed up in person and everything, to talk about whale activism! She puts her hand on her heart. My name is Dara, and this is ofcially the rst meeting of the Whale Action Hub, or …

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She makes a claw with her hand and makes a breaching motion. WAH! She shrugs. It’s like a, a call sign. Or whatever.

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Now I know Whale Action Network probably sounds better, but then the acronym is WAN, and that’s no good. Actually, you’d be amazed at how hard it is to nd a name for a group that has a good acronym. Anyways … I thought I’d start by taking a few minutes to tell you a little bit about my background as an activist, you know, for context, and share how I came to care about whales. Then we’ll open up the discussion and nd out about you, and see what ideas we can come up with about rst steps. All good? She smiles as she takes in the group. My mother made me an activist. And by that, I don’t mean that she was an activist herself, but rather she unwittingly forced me to become one. See, I don’t know about you, but high school wasn’t exactly the best years of my life …

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A play is organized into parts called acts. The setting includes the backdrop and props which contribute to and reinforce the play’s central theme. Dara greets the audience and includes them in the play. This is called “breaking the fourth wall.” The imaginary fourth wall in theatre separates the characters in the play from the audience. affable (adj.) friendly, approachable, cordial breaching (v.) action of a whale leaping above the surface of the water

Although this play is a monologue, observe how characters interact with one another in any play with more than one character. Ask yourself how these qualities affect any particular act in the play.

She points to her body. Cruelty is a talent honed during teenagehood, and in Grade 6 Jessica Bouchard baptized me Gee-Gee, which is the shortened form of “Gobble Gobble.” Apparently, at lunch one day I ate my PB-and-jelly sandwich with an eagerness that rubbed her the wrong way.

Gobble Gobble (exp.) a turkey makes

sound

She shrugs. 30

I eat quickly, it’s true. Point being, the nickname stuck throughout high school, along with the frequent and frankly uninspired elephant and whale references. Sometimes they’d mix their metaphors, you know, “Moby Dick—thar she blows! Gobble gobble!”

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The irony of being fat is that you’re also invisible, in a way, and I was perfectly comfortable with that. Until I met Rachel. She smiles.

U of T (proper n.) of Toronto

I was at university at this point, at York, doing English—I loved reading and I thought I’d like to teach. And also, my grades weren’t good enough for U of T.

University 40

An embedded or framed story is a story within a story.

Look. Sure it’s old school, but that’s a pretty ballsy thing to do in front of a library. During exams. 45

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Billon uses informal language to help the play adhere to a certain genre, in this case, comedy. pilot whales (n.) small, common whales of tropical and temperate seas that have a bulbous head

It was a cold March day, and I was leaving the Scott Library after studying for exams when I saw this petite blonde woman handing out pamphlets, you know, and there was a big sign behind her of a poor whale on its side, its stomach cut open, and above it the words “MURDER” with an exclamation mark. And she was chanting “Stop the Whale Murder!” Anyway, I was staring because I had a thought, and I guess Rachel noticed me and she said, “Do you know anything about the grindadráp?” And I’m like, “The what?” and she says, “The whale hunt in the Faroe Islands. Do you know what they do?” And I shake my head. And she proceeds to describe, in the most inarticulate way possible, how it happens. Seriously, it was the kind of explanation where you have to stop the person every minute to gure out who’s doing what. Clearly, she was passionate about the issue, but … She shrugs. For those who’ve never seen it, picture a bay, and there’s a pod of about, I dunno, thirty or forty pilot whales swimming towards the shore, you know, like this— She mimes breaching whales with her hand.

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And they’re being chased by, like, a hundred boats. As they get close to shore, there’s a sudden rush of people, a kind of tidal wave of people, that run towards the whales. And when they reach the whales, they club them to death. By the time it’s nished, the water, the ocean water, is red with blood. It’s horrifying. She shrugs.

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nix (slang exp.)

I told her I’d help. I pointed to her sign. “Nix the exclamation mark,” I said. She frowned. “It undermines your argument. It’s more ominous, more threatening if the word ‘murder’ appears without punctuation.”

remove, veto

I guess you can say that’s how we became friends or whatever. 65

faze (v.)

The amazing thing, to me, is that this doesn’t faze Rachel. It’s like she’s a superhero.

disturb, disconcert

nth time (exp.) countless times

So pretty soon I’m handing out pamphlets with her, you know, and it’s kind of amazing how soul-crushing an experience that is. Listen, I know what it’s like to feel invisible, and this made me feel worse. Person after person after person ignores you, and by ignoring, I mean they pretend like you don’t exist, like they can’t hear or see you.

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Anyway, that night we watched The Cove at her place for like the nth time, and as usual it got Rachel riled up about the Faroes … So I said, “Let’s go there.” Rachel turned to me and nodded.

super-stoked (exp.) excited

exhilarated,

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We revamp our Facebook group, we put up a website, we start an online petition and we even email the Faroese PM. And by “we,” I mean “me.”

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And that evening, we brainstormed a two-pronged plan of attack: one, deliver a petition to the Faroese prime minister, and two, shoot the grindadráp and make a documentary to upload on YouTube. The doc is Rachel’s idea, she’s super-stoked about it.

At rst, honestly, the response is pretty underwhelming. I mean, our Facebook group stagnates at about two hundred people; our petition is doing a little better, we’re just shy of a thousand signatures … But these aren’t exactly “tipping point” numbers, you know?

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And just like that, Rachel became the public face of End the Whale Hunt Now, exclamation mark. Which, for the record, has a stupid acronym. She shrugs. 85

The thing is, it worked. We got an article in the Globe and Mail—with a photo of Rachel oating on a plastic dolphin in a pool—that pushed our campaign into a whole other sphere. Other papers called, and Rachel was invited to speak on a couple of morning shows.

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On the same day we got our hundred thousandth signature, we got an email from Páll Jacobsen, who works for the Faroe Ministry of Fisheries. He’s been asked to liaise with us for our visit, and to answer any questions we may have about the grindadráp. And I remember when I called Rachel over to my laptop to show her the email, she read it and then came right up to the screen, you know, and inhaled … She demonstrates the inhale.

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And she said, “Do you smell that?” I scowled, you know. And she smiled and said, “That’s what fears smells like. We have twice as many signatures as they have people.” Rachel left on a Tuesday, and her carry-on luggage consisted of her camera gear and our petition. I hugged her goodbye and she said, “You don’t give bear hugs, you give whale hugs!” She shrugs.

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(I wasn’t quite sure how to take that.) And for the rst week she was there, we emailed every day and I’d update the website with photos and blog posts of her adventures. And then the emails stopped. Not all of a sudden or anything, but I started to get short responses to long questions.

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Finally, I sent her an email asking for an update on the petition and for footage of the grindadráp to post on the website. She responded with: “Let’s Skype tomorrow 10 a.m. your time.” She smiles. So the next morning we nally get to speak, sort of face-to-face, I guess.

110

“What’s going on?” I ask. She shrugs, and then says, “Nothing, why?” “Did you get any footage of the grindadráp?” Rachel shakes her head and says, “Not yet.” She looks away and then adds, “But I delivered the petition!”

115

“To the Prime Minister?” She nods.

120

“Look,” she says, “Things here aren’t exactly what we thought, you know? I mean, the pilot whale drive is pretty dramatic, of course, but Dara—they use the whales for food, okay? It’s not like they’re killing them for sport. And they showed me how they do it, it’s actually the most efcient and humane way to kill them, under the circumstances.” She leans forward on her chair. “Under the circumstances?” She kept going, something about how abundant pilot whales are, I think, but at this point I’m so shell-shocked I’m just staring at the screen …

125

That’s when I notice her surroundings. It’s a really nice place, a little messy but denitely homey.

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“Where are you?” I ask. “What do you mean? I’m in the Faroes—” “No, I mean right now? You’re not at the hostel.” 130

And I can see Rachel is suddenly caught off-guard. “Oh yeah, no, I’m over at someone’s. It’s … ” And Rachel bites her lip and looks off to the side, and waves someone over. This guy enters the frame, and he’s—okay, ne, he’s very handsome, he’s quite, quite beautiful, actually, and he waves over at me with a kind of familiarity that annoys me.

135

“Hullo!” he says. “Hi.” “Dara, this is Páll Jacobsen. Remember him? He works for the Fiskimálará—” blah-blah-blah or whatever. “It is so nice to nally meet you!” he says.

140

And I burst out laughing. Like crazy laughing, you know? Rachel quickly shoos Páll Jacobsen away. “Dara, what’s wrong? What’s the matter? Aren’t you happy for me?”

guffaws (v.) boisterously

She guaws.

laughs loudly and

And Rachel’s like, “Please, say something … ” 145

But the only thing I think to say is … I say, “You’re just another moral relativist.” Then I add, “And a bitch.” She shakes her head. And then you know what she says? She says—

150

There’s a loud knock at the door. Dara checks the time. That’s AA, I guess we’re … She laughs. Right, right, right! Then she says, “For God’s sake, Dara. They’re just whales.”

155

That’s what she says to me! “They’re just whales!”

Sound and music enhance the theatrical experience for the audience.

There’s another loud knock at the door. OH-KAY! She turns back to the group. 160

In a harsh, aggressive tone. Whales are people too! Registers what she’s just said. A sharp knock at the door.

165

At the end of an act, the characters leave the stage to allow for a change in scene in the following act.

174

ANTHOLOGY

Of course, we—we’ve got to go. I’m sorry we ran out of time … I hope you’ll come back … next week … thank you … uh … Dara, in a daze, can’t nd the words to continue. BLACKOUT 1784 words

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Comprehension 1. Who is Dara and why is she addressing the audience?

2. What changed the perspective Dara had had of herself since high school?

3. How did Dara decide to become an activist?

4. Why does Dara consider Rachel a superhero?

5. Whose idea was it to go to the Faroe Islands? What did the activists want to accomplish there?

6. How did the activists proceed with their campaign?

7. Foreshadowing is a literary device an author uses to hint at something occurring in the future. Does the playwright give the audience any hint of this? Explain. How did Rachel ultimately disappoint Dara?

Between the Lines 1.

The play is a monologue but feels like a dialogue. How does the playwright accomplish this?

2.

A plot twist is a radical change of direction of the expected outcome of a story. What plot twist occurred in the play?

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Appendix 1 How to Do Research You will need to incorporate research into your projects, presentations, and essays. There is so much information available today that it is a challenge to sort through it all. Find information that is specic to the topic you chose and ensure that it is relevant, interesting, and useful. Follow these steps to include accurately documented research sources in your assignments.

Step 1: Gather sources 1. Select and evaluate sources carefully Here are a few tips to help you choose current and reliable sources. • Scan the headings to ensure that the source information is relevant to your topic. • Verify that the date of publication is recent or the source information has been updated. • Validate the author and title of the publication. • Check for author bias. • Don’t assume that everything you read in a newspaper or online represents the truth. • Use the CARS checklist below to validate Internet sources.

CARS Checklist Validate These Elements Credibility

Accuracy

Reasonableness

Ask Yourself These Questions

Find out if the source is credible and trustworthy.

Is the author respectable and well-known? Does he or she have solid credentials?

Look for a reliable website and research the person who wrote the material (institution or other contact information).

Does the website include the author’s contact information? Is the information well-written with few or no mistakes?

Make sure the text is up-to-date, detailed, and contains all the facts (the whole truth).

Does the text have a date? Do you know when it was last modied?

Identify the target audience.

Is the content appropriate and intended for college students?

Look for information that presents both sides of the issue without bias.

Does the author present both sides of the issue equally?

Make sure the information presented is fair and objective.

Is the text emotional? For example, a vegetarians’ association stating that eating meat is bad for you is probably biased. Does the source make skeptical claims? For example, a miracle cure for a problem should be approached with caution.

Support

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APPENDIX 1

Look for different sources that agree and that contain similar, accurate information. Do not rely on only one source or on the rst source that you nd.

Can you nd three reliable, veried, and credible sources that agree?

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2. Take notes Once you have found sources you can use, it is time to record the relevant information for your assignment. • Read each text and take notes in point form in your own words. • Remember to record the source details for your works cited list: author’s name, title of the text, date of publication, name of publisher, website address, when the website was updated, date you accessed it. • Use quotation marks to directly quote the author’s exact words.

Step 2: Incorporate research information Incorporate research information into your assignment by summarizing, paraphrasing, or quoting the text directly. Make sure to record all your sources in a bibliography or works cited list to avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism is presenting someone else’s ideas as your own in either written or oral form. Acknowledge your source each time you refer to it. 1. Summarize To summarize information, nd the main ideas in the text and rephrase them in your own words. Condense the most important ideas and express your understanding of them. The usual purpose of summarizing is to give the reader an overview of the text. • Read the text carefully until you fully understand all the information. • In the rst sentence of your summary, identify the title of the text, the author’s name, and the main idea presented. • Summarize the secondary ideas of the text in a clear and concise manner. 2. Paraphrase When paraphrasing, restate the author’s ideas clearly and simply. • Reword the author’s ideas so that they are easy to understand for your target audience. • Don’t copy entire sentences from the article (unless you quote them directly). 3. Quote Quoting the author’s exact words is the third way of incorporating research into your assignment. Direct quotations should be used sparingly. Only quote the text verbatim when the author has written or said something in an eloquent, vivid, or memorable style that will add impact. • Copy the passage word for word from the original source. • If the passage is less than forty words, put quotation marks around it and incorporate it into your paragraph. • If the passage is longer than forty words, begin the quoted passage on a new line, indented ten spaces from the left margin.

Step 3: Document sources Documentation is the process of acknowledging source material. To document a source, provide the necessary details that allow a reader to nd the material. Use the MLA (Modern Languages Association) style, an established and accepted referencing format, when acknowledging sources in research assignments. 1. Cite your sources When citing source material, you can either give credit within your text or use a parenthetical reference to tell the reader that the information is borrowed. In-text credit: According to Roger Scruton in his article “The Questions that Have No Answers,” if we stop asking questions, we will stop being fully human. Parenthetical reference: If we stop asking questions, we will stop being fully human (Scruton page no.).

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2. Works cited list A works cited list details the sources of the words, ideas, data, or other material you used. Most teachers in English and the social sciences ask students to follow the MLA style for documenting research assignments. The format must be followed very closely, including the order of the information and the capitalization and punctuation style. Guidelines for citing common sources are illustrated below. Students are encouraged to consult an MLA handbook for more details. • List sources in alphabetical order. Double-space the entries and indent as of the second line. • Remember to capitalize the rst letter of all words in titles except articles, prepositions, and conjunctions. • Indicate whether the material is printed or takes another form, such as a website, DVD, or CD. • Research missing information, such as the author’s name on a website. If this information is unavailable after a thorough search, omit it from the source cited. Use “n.p.” for “no publisher” and “n.d.” for “no date.” Book Author (last name, rst name or initials). Book title. City of publication: Publisher, date of publication. Page no. Print. Billon, Nicolas. Fault Lines: Greenland – Iceland – Faroe Islands. Toronto: Coach House Books, 2013. Print. Periodical or journal article Author (last name, rst name or initials). “Article title.” Publication title Vol no. Issue no. (Year): page no. Print. Miller, Peter. “A Thing or Two about Twins.” National Geographic (2012). Print. Newspaper or magazine article Author (last name, rst name or initials). “Article Title.” Newspaper / magazine title Date: page number. Print. Belluz, Julia. “Who am I?” Maclean’s 18 Nov. 2010. Print. Online publications Author, editor or compiler (if available). “Title.” Website Title. Publisher, date of publication. Web. Date website accessed. Macdonald, Nancy. “One Student’s Story of Survival Against All Odds.” Maclean’s. Rogers Media, 13 October 2014. Web. 18 March 2015. DVD or lm Title. Dir. Name of director. Perf. Name of performer(s). Producer, date of release. DVD / Film. Twelve. Dir. Lester Alfonso. National Film Board of Canada, 2008. DVD. CD Artist. “Song title.” Album title. Distributor, date of release. CD. The Weakerthans. “Pamphleteer.” Left and Leaving. Epitaph Records, 2000. CD.

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Appendix 2 How to Plan and Deliver an Oral Presentation Throughout this course, you will present information and opinions to your teacher and classmates orally. Speaking in a second language in front of others can be a challenge; the key is to be prepared well in advance. Here are a few helpful tips to make speaking in public easier for you.

Step 1: Plan your presentation in advance • Carefully review all the requirements of the presentation. • For a formal presentation, research and organize your ideas as you would a written essay. Include an introduction, a few main points (supported by facts or statistics, examples, anecdotes, or quotations), and a conclusion. • Incorporate new vocabulary, idioms, and grammar into your presentation. • Be sure to use proper word stress and to pronounce verb endings (such as -ed, -s, -ing) clearly. • Practise your presentation many times aloud. Try to nd someone to present it to who can give you feedback and make suggestions for improvement. Remember: “Practice makes perfect!” • Time the presentation to verify if it meets the requirements for duration. • Prepare simple cue cards with keywords to help trigger your memory when presenting. • It is not necessary to write everything you will say; summarize the important information in point form. • Do not memorize your presentation word for word. You want to sound natural and spontaneous when responding to your audience.

Step 2: Deliver your presentation with confidence • Be enthusiastic about the topic you chose and the ideas you bring forth. This will be reected in your voice and body language. • Make regular eye contact with your audience. • Speak clearly and at a comfortable speed. • Try to appear condent and at ease. • Do not read from your cue cards or other written documents. • Bring in audio or visual support to make your presentation interesting and memorable. • Enjoy sharing what you learned with your teacher and peers!

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Credits Text, Audio, and Video Sources Unit 1 p. 2 Reading text: “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost; p. 5 Video segment: “One Couch at a Time” www.onecouchatatime. com/by Alexandre Liss, © 2012; p. 7 Reading text: “Living in the Arctic Has Taught Me About Community” by Deborah Tobin, The Globe and Mail © 2011. Deborah Tobin is an educator and writer. p. 8 Reading text: “I Ran Away and Joined the Circus – in Mexico”, Copyright Guardian News & Media Ltd 2013; p. 9 Reading text: “What Am I Doing Here?” by Andrew McCarthy National Geographic © 2012; p. 15 Video segment: “Mars One Way” Vita Brevis Films © 2014; p. 15 Video segment: “Abandon Ship: The Sinking of the SV Concordia”, CBC © 2014 and Tricon Films & Television. Unit 2 p. 22 Reading text: “The Curse of the Herd” © 2013 by Gwen Dewar, Ph.D.; all rights reserved; p. 23 Reading text: “The Ghost Commune” by Michelle Nijuis Aeon Magazine © 2013; p. 24 Reading text: “I’m Nobody! Who Are You?” by Emily Dickinson; p. 26 Audio segment: “Riding the Herd Mentality” Freakonomics © New York Public Radio, 2012; p. 30 Reading text: “The Flight from Conversation” by Sherry Turkle The New York Times © 2012; p. 33 Video segment: “Being Alone Together” by Sherry Turkle. Source: BillMoyers.com/segment/sherry-turkle-on-being-alone-together © 2013; p. 35 Video segment: “The Real Dirt on Gossip” © Film Option 2013. Unit 3 p. 41 Reading text: “The Moral Decline in the Words We Use” by Jen Doll The Wire © 2012 TRIBUNE Publication; p. 45 Video segment: “Born Good” CBS News © 2012; p. 45 Reading text: “The Stone—Are We Ready for a Morality Pill?” by Peter Singer and Agata Sagan. The New York Times, January 28, 2012 © 2012 The New York Times. All rights reserved. http://opinionator.blogs. nytimes.com/2012/01/28/are-we-ready-for-a-morality-pill/?module =Search&mabReward=relbias%3Ar%2C{%222%22%3A% 22RI%3A17%22}&_r=0; p. 45 Video segment: “How Oxytocin Boosts Our Empathy and Morality” The Hufngton Post © 2014; p. 48 Reading text: “Rumpelstiltskin” by The Brothers Grimm; p. 52 Audio segment: “The Truth About Dishonesty” by Dan Ariely, RSA Animate Compliments of RSA. www.thersa.org © 2012; p. 56 Reading text: “What Science Tells Us about Whistleblowers like Edward Snowden” by Julia Belluz Maclean’s Magazine © 2013. Unit 4 p. 62 Reading text: “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted” by Malcolm Gladwell The New Yorker Magazine © 2010; p. 62 Reading text: “Malala Yousafzai” by David Pilling Financial Times Magazine © 2013; p. 64 Audio segment: “How Cyber Attacks Threaten Human Rights Groups” CBC © 2014; p. 69 Audio segment: “Sustainable Joes” CBC © 2013; p. 72 Reading text: “My Year of Living without Money” by Marc Boyle The Guardian © 2009; p. 77 Video segment: “Music and Activism Around the Globe” The Hufngton Post © 2013; p. 79 Reading text: “Pamphleteer” by The Weakerthans Epitaph Music © 2000. Unit 5 p. 85 Reading text: “Can Science Explain Why We Tell Stories?” by Adam Gopnik The New Yorker © 2012 by Adam Gopnik, used by permission of the Wylie Agency LLC; p. 85 Audio segment: “The Persuasive Power of Storytelling” by Terry O’Reilly and Mike Tennant from The Age of Persuasion Radio Show, CBC Radio; p. 89 Audio segment: “The Moth Rekindles ‘Campre’ Storytelling” CBC © 2013; p. 91 Video segment: “The Moth Presents Matteson Perry: Take the Bull by the Horns” October 2011. © The Moth; p. 94 Reading text: “This Is a Photograph of Me” from The Circle Game, © 1968 by Margaret Atwood. Reprinted with permission of House of Anansi Press, Toronto. www.houseofanansi.com; p. 94 Reading text: James Wright, “Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota” from The Branch will not Break © 1963 by James Wright. Reprint with permission of Wesleyan University Press; p. 97 Reading text: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: a novel by Lisa See, “Milk Years” from SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN: A NOVEL by Lisa See, copyright © 2005 by Lisa See. Used by permission of Random House, an imprint and division of Random House LLC. All rights reserved; p. 97 Reading text: “An-Mei Tsu” from The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan © G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1989; p. 101 Video segment: “Twelve” by Tammy Lin Foreman. National Film Board of Canada, 2008. Under a license of SODRAC. Unit 6 p. 110 Reading text: “The Questions That Have No Answers” by Roger Scruton New Statesman © 2013; p. 110 Reading text: “Fat but Fit” by Kate Lunau Maclean’s © 2012; p. 112 Video segment: “The Oil Sands Art Exhibit” CBC © 2014; p. 116: “The China Question” Earthchild Productions © 2011; p. 120 Reading text: “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut © 1961 The trust of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Donald C. Farber Trustee; p. 123 Audio segment: “Machiavelli: The Prince of Paradox” CBC © 2014. Anthology p. 154 Reading text: “Mommy’s Success Gives Xavier Dolan Direction” by Brendan Kelly © 2014 Material reprinted with the express permission of: Montreal Gazette, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.; p. 157 Reading text: “Escarpment Blues” by Sarah Harmer © 2006; p. 159 Reading text: “Saskatoon Bus Depot: 8 a.m. Sunday” by Lesley Choyce © 1998 Reprinted by permission

180 CREDITS

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of Ekstasis Editions; p. 161 Reading text: “The Girl Who Loved Her Horses” by Drew Taylor Hayden “The Boy in the Treehouse/ The Girl Who Loved Her Horses” © 2000 by Drew Hayden Taylor, Talonbooks, Vancouver, BC. Used by permission of Talon Books Ltd. Any third party use of this material, outside of this publication, is prohibited. p. 167 Reading text: “One Student’s Story of Survival Against All Odds” by Nancy Macdonald Maclean’s © 2014; p. 171 Reading text: “Fault Lines: Faroe Islands—Dara” by Nicolas Billon Excerpt from Faroe Islands, published in Fault Lines: Greenland – Iceland – Fault Lines, © Nicolas Billon, 2013. Reprinted with the permission of Coach House Books. Photo Sources Cover: ALEXANDRO AULER/dpa/Corbis. Unit 1 p. 1: Sjors737|Dreamstime.com; p. 2: Andrew F Kazmierski/iStockphoto; p. 4: Martinmark|Dreamstime.com; p. 8: mady70/ iStockphoto; p. 13: Xavier Arnau/iStockphoto; p. 15: Sergey Drozdov-Fotolia.com; p. 17: Konart|Dreamstime.com. Unit 2 p. 19: jjwithers/iStockphoto; p. 20: epicurean/iStockphoto; p. 21: vetkit–Fotolia; p. 22: Dmitry Pichugin|Dreamstime.com; p. 24: Wikimedia Commons; p. 26: Kirk Peart Professional Imaging/Shutterstock.com; p. 29: Geber86/iStockphoto; p. 30: Izabela Habur /iStockphoto; p. 33: Aleksandar Nakic/iStockphoto; p. 34: Monkey Business Images|Dreamstime.com; p. 35: Aldo Murillo/ iStockphoto; p. 37: Stockyimages|Dreamstime.com. Unit 3 p. 39: Christa Brunt/iStockphoto; p. 40: Jonathan Austin Daniels/iStockphoto; p. 42: marekuliasz/iStockphoto; p. 44: buttet/ Shutterstock.com; p. 46: markokg/iStockphoto; p. 48: The Story of Rumpelstiltskin, Blasco, Jesus (1919-95)/Private Collection/ © Look and Learn/Bridgeman Images; p. 49: AlexAvich/Shutterstock.com; p. 52: lassedesignen/Shutterstock.com; p. 55: Melinda Fawver/Shutterstock.com; p. 56: THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP Photo; p. 57: Jaruek Chairak/Shutterstock.com. Unit 4 p. 59: Anna Omelchenko/Shutterstock.com; p. 60: Steve Debenport/iStockphoto; p. 63: oonal/iStockphoto; p. 64: American Spirit/ Shutterstock.com; p. 66: Forty3Zero/Shutterstock.com; p. 68: Elena Rostunova|Dreamstime.com; p. 70: valjakum/Shutterstock. com; p. 71: ™and © DC Comics; p. 72: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Shutterstock.com; p. 74: Brzozowska/iStockphoto; p. 77: nievesm/ iStockphoto; p. 79: Glynnis Jones/Shutterstock.com. Unit 5 p. 81: coloroftime/iStockphoto; p. 82 (1): AP Photo/The Journal & Constitution, Louie Favorite; (2): AP Photo; (3): AP Photo/ Jae C. Hong; (4): AP Photo/Eric Gay; p. 83: gpointstudio/Shutterstock.com; p. 85: ImageegamI/iStockphoto; p. 87: Juan Moyano|Dreamstime.com; p. 88: Susan Chiang/iStockphoto; p. 89: Arturo Limon|Dreamstime.com; p. 90: Notorious91/ iStockphoto; p. 92: Migel/Shutterstock.com; p. 94 (1): Jose AS Reyes/Shutterstock.com; (2): Dudarev Mikhail/Shutterstock.com; p. 97: Anan Chincho|Dreamstime.com; p. 100: Monkey Business Images|Dreamstime.com; p. 101: Photo: Wayne Eardley © 2008 National Film Board of Canada. All rights reserved; p. 103: Edhar Yralaits|Dreamstime.com; p. 104: Cvandyke|Dreamstime.com. Unit 6 p. 107: Salvador Ceja|Dreamstime.com; p. 108: Gustavo Frazao/Shutterstock.com; p. 109: Eric Broder Van Dyke|Dreamstime.com; p. 111: Kenwood House (London); p. 112: © Mia Feuer. Photo: Paul Bothwell; p. 114: Jose Antonio Sánchez Reyes|Dreamstime. com; p. 116: Yukchong Kwan|Dreamstime.com; p. 117: 86ccyy|Dreamstime.com; p. 119: Vladimir Korostyshevskiy|Dreamstime. com; p. 121: Clairemcadamsphotography|Dreamstime.com; p. 122: InnervisionArt/Shutterstock.com; p. 123: InnervisionArt/ Shutterstock.com; p. 125: KPG_Payless/Shutterstock.com; p. 126: Kevin Van Paassen/The Globe and Mail. Anthology p. 153: alphaspirit/Shutterstock.com; p. 154: Agence QMI; p. 156: cinemafestival/Shutterstock.com; p. 157 (1): Sarah Harmer; (2): Jostaphot/iStockphoto; p. 158: Dhoxax/Shutterstock.com; p. 159: Ekstasis Editions; p. 160: Brad Wynnyk/Shutterstock.com; p. 161: Talonbooks; p. 163: Julia Smirnova/istockphoto via Thinkstock; p. 164: Gatterwe Simone/Shutterstock.com; p. 166: Julia Smirnova/istockphoto via Thinkstock; p. 167: Maclean’s Magazine; p. 168: © Brian Howell; p. 171: Trish Lindström; p. 173: Galyna Andrushko/Shutterstock.com; p. 174: Adam Li, NOAA/NMFS/SWFSC; p. 175: Galyna Andrushko/Shutterstock.com. Appendices p. 179: Rawpixelimages | Dreamstime.com.

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Revising and Editing Checklists Use the following checklists to revise and edit your paragraphs and essays.

1. Revising Checklist for Paragraphs  The paragraph has a clear topic sentence that states the main idea.  There are adequate supporting sentences to reinforce the topic sentence.  All the supporting sentences are on topic and focus on the main idea.  The paragraph is logically organized, unied, and coherent.  There is an effective concluding sentence.  The paragraph is interesting and worth reading.

2. Revising Checklist for Essays Introduction  The introduction captures the reader’s attention.  The thesis statement is clear and effective.  The thesis statement contains the topic and the main idea of the essay.

Body Paragraphs  Each body paragraph has a clear topic sentence.  Each topic sentence states one main argument or idea that supports the thesis statement.  There are adequate supporting sentences to reinforce the topic sentence.  Each body paragraph contains transition words to help link ideas.  The paragraph is unied and coherent.  There is an effective concluding sentence.

Conclusion  The concluding paragraph summarizes the main points of the essay.  The conclusion ends with a memorable statement.

3. Editing and Proofreading Checklist  The grammar and verb tenses are correct.  Each sentence is complete and has a subject and a verb that agree.  Each sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a period, question mark, or exclamation point.  The word choice is accurate and appropriate.  The spelling is correct.  Punctuation is used correctly.

182 REVISING AND EDITING CHECKLISTS

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Issues This much-anticipated second edition of Skills Book 3 offers a fresh take on the four-skills integrated approach that made it so successful. Contemporary themes inspire reflection and help high-intermediate to advanced students of English as a second language broaden the scope of their daily lives. New and improved elements join the most appreciated features of the first edition. Challenging authentic reading, video, and audio selections are accompanied by activities adapted to students’ level. Reading for Strategy, Reading for Interaction, and Reading for Challenge provide targeted reading practice. Expanded Writing Files cover writing and improving essays, and provide revising and editing practice. The special characteristics of four essay types are compared, including thesis statements. The Anthology is composed of six different Canadian texts (a movie review, a poem, a song, an editorial, a short story, and a play), and reviews the various features of each text type. Literary Device explains and applies a literary device in context. Between the Lines has students think critically about the texts they have read.

Themes

Explore the themes further with interactive workshops that include more than 600 questions plus additional reading, audio, and video material. Students receive immediate feedback and scoring while teachers are able to annotate the eBook, electronically follow students’ progress, and create their own online interactive activities. Teachers can display or hide answers and notes embedded in the Teacher’s Edition Answer Key for a more active learning experience in the classroom.

S

andra Cole has taught English as a Second Language for over twenty years in the province of Québec. She currently teaches at Cégep Garneau in Québec City. She holds an M.A. in Applied Linguistics and a TESL Certificate, both from Concordia University.

A

ngelika Brunel has taught English as a Second Language for over 15 years at Collège Ahuntsic in Montréal, Québec. She holds a B. Ed. with a specialization in TESL from Concordia University, where she also studied Applied Linguistics at the Master’s level. Angelika has authored and co-authored numerous works in English.

Idioms and Vocabulary sections focus on vocabulary acquisition. Useful Grammar Link and How To boxes give students clear, helpful information on the correct language to use and the appropriate strategies to apply. Language-appropriate Pronunciation exercises are in the book and online for continuous practice. Integrated web links lead to additional material offered on . The Annotated Teacher’s Edition includes an answer key for all activities as well as pedagogical notes to help teachers personalize and enhance their material.

Grammar Reference and Practice 3, Second Edition, complements the Skills Book.

ISBN 978-2-7650-4546-5

www.cheneliere.ca/real