Page 42 - ELA_CA_HighSchool_Sampler_Flipbook

ACTIVITY 1.3
continued
Setting a Purpose for Reading
• Underline or highlight information that helps you define the concept of cultural identity.
• Circle unknown words and phrases. Try to determine the meaning of the words by using context clues, word parts, or a dictionary.
Ethnic Hash by Patricia J. Williams from Transition
Recently, I was invited to a book party. The book was about pluralism. “Bring an hors d’oeuvre representing your ethnic heritage,” said the hostess, innocently enough. Her request threw me into a panic. Do I even have an ethnicity? I wondered. It was like suddenly discovering you might not have a belly button. I tell you, I had to go to the dictionary. What were the flavors, accents, and linguistic trills that were passed down to me over the ages? What are the habits, customs, and common traits of the social group by which I have been guided in life—and how do I cook them?
My last name is from a presumably Welsh plantation owner. My mother chose my first name from a dictionary of girls’ names. “It didn’t sound like Edna or Myrtle,” she says, as though that explains anything. I have two mostly Cherokee grandparents. There’s a Scottish great-grandfather, a French-Canadian great uncle, and a bunch of other relations no one ever talks about. Not one of them left recipes. Of course the ancestors who
have had the most tangible influence on my place in the world were probably the West Africans, and I can tell you right off that I haven’t the faintest idea what they do for hors d’oeuvres in West Africa (although I have this Senegalese friend who always serves the loveliest, poufiest little fish mousse things in puff pastries that look, well, totally French).
Ethnic recipes throw me into the same sort of quandary as that proposed “interracial” box on the census form: the concept seems so historically vague, so cheerfully open-ended, as to be virtually meaningless. Everyone I know has at least three different kinds of cheese in their fondue. I suppose I could serve myself up as something like Tragic Mulatta Souffle, except that I’ve never gotten the hang of souffles. (Too much fussing,
too little reward.) So as far as this world’s concerned, I’ve always thought of myself as just plain black. Let’s face it: however much my categories get jumbled when I hang out at my favorite kosher sushi spot, it’s the little black core of me that moves through the brave new world of Manhattan as I hail a cab, rent an apartment, and apply for a job.
Although it’s true, I never have tried hailing a cab as an ethnic....
So let me see. My father is from the state of Georgia. When he cooks, which is not often, the results are distinctly Southern. His specialties are pork chops and pies; he makes the good-luck black-eyed peas on New Year’s. His recipes are definitely black
in a regional sense, since most blacks in the United States until recently lived in the Southeast. He loves pig. He uses lard.
My mother’s family is also black, but relentlessly steeped in the New England tradition of hard-winter cuisine. One of my earliest memories is of my mother
WORD CONNECTIONS
Etymology
Hors d’oeuvre (awr DURV)
is a French term that refers
to appetizers—small food portions served before a main meal. The word can be traced back to 1714 and a meaning of “outside the ordinary courses of a meal.” It comes from fors (“outside”), de (“from”) and ouvre (“work”), which in turn is from Latin opera.
pluralism: state in which people of different backgrounds live
in society together but hold on to their unique traditions and customs
linguistic: relating to language
My Notes
quandary: dilemma; difficulty
Personal Essay
10. Key Ideas and Details (RI.9–10.2) What does M 9781457304668_TCB_SE_G10_U1_B1.indd 13
paragraph 3. What does the author mean by the metaphor, “I suppose I could serve myself up as something like Tragic Mulatta Souffle”? What does this tell you about the meaning of the word mulatta?
the metaphorical title suggest about Williams’s cultural identity? What metaphor does the author use in the title? How does the word hash relate to the author’s cultural identity?
11. Craft and Structure (RI.9–10.4) What do you think the term mulatta means, based on the
Unit 1 • Cultural Conversations 13 way the author uses it in paragraph 3? Reread
10/6/15 11:56 PM
ACTIVITY 1.3 continued
14 FIRST READ: Based on the complexity of the passage and your knowledge of your students, you may choose to conduct the first reading in a variety of ways:
• independent reading • paired reading
• small group reading • guided reading
• read aloud
Text Complexity Overall: Complex
Lexile: 1100L
Qualitative: High Difficulty Task: Moderate (Analyze)
15 As students are reading, monitor their progress. Be sure they are engaged with the text and annotating information that helps them define the concept of cultural identity. Evaluate whether the selected reading mode is effective.
SCAFFOLDING THE TEXT-DEPENDENT QUESTIONS
Unit 1 • Cultural Conversations 13
© 2017 College Board. All rights reserved.
© 2017 College Board. All rights reserved.