Unit
4
An American
Journey
Essential Questions
?
How can an author’s style
construct and reflect
identity?
?
How do communication
skills enhance
self-expression?
Unit Overview
Ever since the Pilgrims traveled to America, the
concept of the “journey” has been part of the
American experience. In this unit you will study
the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, which
traces the physical and emotional journey of a
woman striving for self-expression. You will then
examine the ways that you present yourself in a
variety of situations on your own journey to selfexpression.
283
4
An American Journey
Goals
CTo explore an American
classic that addresses
the concept of “journey”
CTo analyze the writer’s
rich and complex writing
style as a model for
making deliberate
stylistic choices
CTo investigate the
communication
demands of a career
and to prepare to meet
those demands
CTo use media production
elements and
speaking and listening
skills to construct a
presentation of self that
is appropriate for the
audience
Academic VocaBulary
Motif
Résumé
Contents
Learning Focus: Journey of Discovery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
Activities:
4.1 Previewing the Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
4.2 Who Was Zora Neale Hurston?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
*Teleplay: Zora Is My Name, directed by Neema Barnette
Essay: “How It Feels to Be Colored Me,” by Zora Neale Hurston
4.3 The Harlem Renaissance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
4.4 Hurston’s Colorful Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
*Teleplay: Zora Is My Name, directed by Neema Barnette
Short Story: “Sweat,” by Zora Neale Hurston
4.5 Janie’s Return Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
* Novel: Excerpt from Their Eyes Were Watching God,
by Zora Neale Hurston
4.6 Nanny’s Life. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
Poetry: “Mother to Son,” by Langston Hughes
4.7 Nanny, Janie, and Logan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
4.8 Janie’s New Life. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
4.9 The Two Sides of Janie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
4.10 Discussion Groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
4.11 The End of a Long Journey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
Excerpts from critical reviews
4.12 Oprah Winfrey Presents…. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
*Film: Their Eyes Were Watching God,
directed by Darnell Martin
Embedded Assessment 1 Writing an Analytical Essay . . . . . . . . . 334
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Unit
Learning Focus: Communicating Myself to Others. . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
4.13 My Communication Skills. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
4.14 Career Search. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
4.15 Creating a Résumé. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
4.16 Social Networking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344
Article: “Narcissism on the Internet isn’t risk-free,” by Eric Gwinn
Article: “Web of Risks,” by Brad Stone with Robbie Brown
Article: Excerpt from “Experts: Employers Monitor Social
Networking Web Sites,” by Matt McGowan
4.17 Practicing for a Job Interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
Embedded Assessment 2 Using Communication Skills to
Present Myself. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
Unit Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
*Texts not included in these materials.
285
Learning Focus:
Journey of Discovery
“Ah been a delegate to de big ‘ssociation of life. Yessuh! De Grand Lodge,
de big convention of livin’ is just where Ah been dis year and a half y’all ain’t
seen me.”
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Zora Neale Hurston
One of the great literary discoveries in recent years has been Zora Neale
Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. Unappreciated by some of
Hurston’s male contemporaries upon its first publication in 1937, the novel
slipped out of print until Alice Walker (The Color Purple) brought it back to
the public eye in the 1970’s. Since then, Hurston’s story of Janie Crawford, a
woman on a journey of self-discovery, has received wide acclaim by diverse
readers and has made its own journey into the canon of American literature.
As with any great book, you will read Their Eyes Were Watching God with
many purposes. Among your purposes will be reading to analyze Hurston’s
innovative use of literary and stylistic elements. You will also analyze
Hurston’s distinctive style, as she expertly integrates a variety of voices
into one novel. Hurston is noted for her gifted storytelling and honoring
oral tradition, including dialect, which can be both biting and humorous.
An author’s use of dialect validates the oral traditions of a people, a time,
and a place. Through their choice of dialect, authors create a representation
of the spoken language, which helps record the history of language as it
evolves over generations.
Csetting
Cplot
Cmotifs
Hurston’s distinctive use of stylistic elements includes:
Cfigurative language, including metaphors, similes, and personification
Cdiction
Cimagery
Csyntax
Cstructure/organization
Cpoint of view
Ctone
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Some of the literary elements to look at in Hurston’s writing include:
Ccharacterization
Previewing the Unit
Activity
4.1
SUGGESTED Learning Strategies: Marking the Text,
Think-Pair-Share, Skimming/Scanning, Summarizing/Paraphrasing,
Graphic Organizer
Essential Questions
1. How can an author’s style construct and reflect identity?
2. How do communication skills enhance self-expression?
Unit Overview and Learning Focus
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
Predict what you think this unit is about. Use the words or phrases that
stood out to you when you read the Unit Overview and the Learning
Focus.
Embedded Assessment 1
What knowledge must you have ( what do you need to know) to succeed
on Embedded Assessment 1? What skills must you have (what must you
be able to do)?
Unit 4 • An American Journey 287
Activity
4.2
Who Was Zora Neale Hurston?
SUGGESTED Learning Strategies: Predicting, Notetaking, Marking
the Text, Think-Pair-Share, Drafting
“Hurston became an orphan at nine, a runaway at fourteen, maid and
manicurist before she was twenty, and with one dress and a dream
– managed to become Zora Neale Hurston, author and anthropologist.”
Alice Walker
1. Based on this statement, what can you infer about Zora Neale
Hurston’s personality?
2. Take notes as you watch the production Zora Is My Name.
Comments and Questions
3. Review your notes and craft a general perception about Zora Neale
Hurston.
4. If Zora Neale Hurston were present, what questions would you like to
ask her?
5. As you read Zora Neale Hurston’s memoir, “How It Feels to Be
Colored Me,” follow your teacher’s instructions for annotating the
text in a guided reading.
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Observation Notes
Essay
Activity 4.2
continued
My Notes
by Zora Neale Hurston
About the Author
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
Born in 1891, Zora Neale Hurston was an American
anthropologist and writer who wrote her best-known
works during the Harlem Renaissance. Hurston grew
up in the small town of Eatonville, Florida, the first
incorporated black township. Hurston’s idyllic childhood
was interrupted by the death of her mother when Hurston
was only 13. She struggled to finish high school, which
she still had not accomplished by age 26. Despite her
early struggles, Hurston went on to graduate from
Barnard College in 1928. Their Eyes Were Watching God is
considered her master work. She died in 1960.
I am colored but I offer nothing in the way of extenuating1
circumstances except the fact that I am the only Negro in the United
States whose grandfather on the mother’s side was not an Indian chief.
1
I remember the very day that I became colored. Up to my thirteenth
year I lived in the little Negro town of Eatonville, Florida. It is exclusively
a colored town. The only white people I knew passed through the
town going to or coming from Orlando. The native whites rode dusty
horses; the Northern tourists chugged down the sandy village road in
automobiles. The town knew the Southerners and never stopped cane
chewing when they passed. But the Northerners were something else
again. They were peered at cautiously from behind curtains by the timid.
The more venturesome would come out on the porch to watch them go
past and got just as much pleasure out of the tourists as the tourists got
out of the village.
2
The front porch might seem a daring place for the rest of the town,
but it was a gallery seat for me. My favorite place was atop the gatepost.
Proscenium box for a born first-nighter.2 Not only did I enjoy the show,
but I didn’t mind the actors knowing that I liked it. I usually spoke to
them in passing. I’d wave at them and when they returned my salute, I
would say something like this: “Howdy-do-well-I-thank-you-where-yougoin’?” Usually the automobile or the horse paused at this, and after a
3
1
2
extenuating: Lessening or seeming to lessen the seriousness of by giving excuses
first-nighter: A person who attends the opening performance of a play, opera, or
similar production
Unit 4 • An American Journey 289
continued
Who Was Zora Neale Hurston?
My Notes
Word
Connections
Ancestor uses the Latin
prefix ante meaning
“before.” Anterior,
antecedent, and
antebellum also rely on
this prefix.
queer exchange of compliments, I would probably “go a piece of the way”
with them, as we say in farthest Florida. If one of my family happened
to come to the front in time to see me, of course, negotiations would be
rudely broken off. But even so, it is clear that I was the first “welcome-toour-state” Floridian, and I hope the Miami Chamber of Commerce will
please take notice.
4
During this period, white people differed from colored to me only
in that they rode through town and never lived there. They liked to hear
me “speak pieces” and sing and wanted to see me dance the parse-me-la,
and gave me generously of their small silver for doing these things, which
seemed strange to me, for I wanted to do them so much that I needed
bribing to stop. Only they didn’t know it. The colored people gave no
dimes. They deplored any joyful tendencies in me, but I was their Zora
nevertheless. I belonged to them, to the nearby hotels, to the county
— everybody’s Zora.
5
But changes came in the family when I was thirteen, and I was sent
to school in Jacksonville. I left Eatonville, the town of the oleanders,3 as
Zora. When I disembarked from the riverboat at Jacksonville, she was
no more. It seemed that I had suffered a sea change. I was not Zora of
Orange County any more, I was now a little colored girl. I found it out in
certain ways. In my heart as well as in the mirror, I became a fast brown
— warranted not to rub nor run.
6
But I am not tragically colored. There is no great sorrow dammed
up in my soul, nor lurking behind my eyes. I do not mind at all. I do
not belong to the sobbing school of Negrohood who hold that nature
somehow has given them a lowdown dirty deal and whose feelings are
all hurt about it. Even in the helter-skelter skirmish that is my life, I have
seen that the world is to the strong regardless of a little pigmentation4
more or less. No, I do not weep at the world — I am too busy sharpening
my oyster knife.5
7
Someone is always at my elbow reminding me that I am the
granddaughter of slaves. It fails to register depression with me. Slavery
is sixty years in the past. The operation was successful and the patient is
doing well, thank you. The terrible struggle that made me an American
out of a potential slave said, “On the line!” The Reconstruction said, “Get
set!” and the generation before said, “Go!” I am off to a flying start and
I must not halt in the stretch to look behind and weep. Slavery is the
price I paid for civilization, and the choice was not with me. It is a bully
adventure and worth all that I have paid through my ancestors for it. No
one on earth ever had a greater chance for glory. The world to be won and
3 oleanders: Evergreen shrubs with fragrant flowers of white, pink, or red
4 pigmentation: Coloration due to the presence of pigments in the tissue
5
oyster knife: A reference to the saying “The world is my oyster.”
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Activity 4.2
Activity 4.2
continued
My Notes
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
nothing to be lost. It is thrilling to think — to know that for any act of
mine, I shall get twice as much praise or twice as much blame. It is quite
exciting to hold the center of the national stage, with the spectators not
knowing whether to laugh or to weep.
The position of my white neighbor is much more difficult. No brown
specter pulls up a chair beside me when I sit down to eat. No dark ghost
thrusts its leg against mine in bed. The game of keeping what one has is
never so exciting as the game of getting.
8
I do not always feel colored. Even now I often achieve the
unconscious Zora of Eatonville before the Hegira.6 I feel most colored
when I am thrown against a sharp white background.
9
For instance at Barnard.7 “Beside the waters of the Hudson” I feel my
race. Among the thousand white persons, I am a dark rock surged upon,
and overswept, but through it all, I remain myself. When covered by the
waters, I am; and the ebb but reveals me again.
10
Sometimes it is the other way around. A white person is set down
in our midst, but the contrast is just as sharp for me. For instance, when
I sit in the drafty basement that is The New World Cabaret with a white
person, my color comes. We enter chatting about any little nothing that
we have in common and are seated by the jazz waiters. In the abrupt
way that jazz orchestras have, this one plunges into a number. It loses no
time in circumlocutions, but gets right down to business. It constricts the
thorax and splits the heart with its tempo and narcotic harmonies. This
orchestra grows rambunctious, rears on its hind legs and attacks the tonal
veil with primitive fury, rending it, clawing it until it breaks through the
jungle beyond. I follow those heathen — follow them exultingly. I dance
wildly inside myself; I yell within, I whoop; I shake my assegai8 above
my head, I hurl it true to the mark yeeeeooww! I am in the jungle and
living in the jungle way. My face is painted red and yellow and my body is
painted blue. My pulse is throbbing like a war drum. I want to slaughter
something — give pain, give death to what, I do not know. But the piece
ends. The men of the orchestra wipe their lips and rest their fingers. I
creep back slowly to the veneer9 we call civilization with the last tone and
find the white friend sitting motionless in his seat, smoking calmly.
11
12
“Good music they have here,” he remarks, drumming the table with
his fingertips.
6
Hegira: Mohammed’s flight from Mecca to Medina in ad 622; hence, any trip or
journey, especially one made to escape a dangerous or undesirable situation
7 Barnard: The college in New York City from which Hurston graduated in 1928
8 assegai: A slender spear or javelin with an iron tip, used in southern Africa
9 veneer: A thick surface layer of find wood or costly material laid over a base of
common material; any attractive but superficial appearance
Unit 4 • An American Journey 291
continued
My Notes
&
Grammar
Usage
Notice the variety Hurston
achieves in the sentences
in this last paragraph. She
uses simple, compound,
compound-complex
sentences, sentence
fragments, inverted word
order, commands, and
questions. The variety
shows a sophisticated
mastery of words and
sentence structure.
13
Music. The great blobs of purple and red emotion have not touched
him. He has only heard what I felt. He is far away and I see him dimly
across the ocean and the continent that have fallen between us. He is so
pale with his whiteness then I am so colored.
14
At certain times I have no race. I am me. When I set my hat at a
certain angle and saunter down Seventh Avenue, Harlem City, feeling
as snooty as the lions in front of the Forty-Second Street Library, for
instance. So far as my feelings are concerned, Peggy Hopkins Joyce on the
Boule Mich with her gorgeous raiment, stately carriage, knees knocking
together in a most aristocratic manner, has nothing on me. The cosmic
Zora emerges. I belong to no race nor time. I am the eternal feminine
with its string of beads.
15
I have no separate feeling about being an American citizen and
colored. I am merely a fragment of the great Soul that surges within the
boundaries. My country, right or wrong.
16
Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me
angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure
of my company? It’s beyond me.
17
But in the main, I feel like a brown bag of miscellany propped against
a wall. Against a wall in company with other bags, white, red, and yellow.
Pour out the contents, and there is discovered a jumble of small things
priceless and worthless. A first-water10 diamond, an empty spool, bits of
broken glass, lengths of string, a key to a door long since crumbled away,
a rusty knife blade, old shoes saved for a road that never was and never
will be, a nail bent under the weight of things too heavy for any nail, a
dried flower or two still a little fragrant. In your hand is a brown bag. On
the ground before you is the jumble it held — so much like the jumble
in the bags, could they be emptied, that all might be dumped in a single
heap and the bags refilled without altering the content of any greatly. A
bit of colored glass more or less would not matter. Perhaps that is how the
Great Stuffer of Bags filled them in the first place — who knows?
10
first-water: Of the best quality and purest luster
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Who Was Zora Neale Hurston?
Activity 4.2
Activity
The Harlem Renaissance
4.3
SUGGESTED Learning Strategies: Notetaking, KWHL Chart,
Think-Pair-Share
Your teacher will share information with you on the Harlem
Renaissance. Use a chart like the one below to keep track of the
information you learn from your teacher’s presentation.
What beliefs and goals did Hurston share with
the Harlem Renaissance?
In what ways did Hurston follow
her own path?
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
Quickwrite: After learning a little bit about the Harlem Renaissance,
what questions do you have that you would like to explore further?
Use the KWHL chart on the next page to organize and explore your
questions about the Harlem Renaissance. Use a variety of sources to
gather information and prepare a brief presentation of your findings.
Your questions may be related to politics, writers, music of the era,
history, places, and social developments.
Unit 4 • An American Journey 293
Activity 4.3
continued
The Harlem Renaissance
What I Know
Want to Learn
How I might learn
(research questions)
(useful sources)
What I Learned
Working with a small group, craft a creative and informative
presentation that demonstrates your research; you will present this to
your classmates.
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Writers
Music
Politics and Beliefs
(activating prior
knowledge)
Activity
Hurston’s Colorful Language
4.4
SUGGESTED Learning Strategies: Skimming/Scanning, Marking the Text,
Think-Pair-Share, Oral Interpretation, Graphic Organizer, SIFT, Drafting
1. Zora Neale Hurston was a respected anthropologist. Mules and Men
is a collection of folklore that Hurston compiled. One of the tales,
“Why Women Always Take Advantage of Men,” is performed in the
teleplay Zora Is My Name. As you watch this production, take notes
on the guiding questions below.
What does this folktale seem to say about the
relationships between men and women?
How are the props, the set, and the sound
effects used as symbols?
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
2. Not only did Hurston collect folklore, she also wrote short stories.
Preview one of Hurston’s most famous short stories, “Sweat,” by
scanning Chunk 1 and underlining unfamiliar words. You will see that
Hurston reproduces the actual speech of the characters.
3. Try to figure out the unfamiliar words you underlined by using
the context. Next, work with a small group to formulate some
“pronunciation rules” for figuring out how to say the words. Use
the graphic organizer on the next page to guide your work. Some
examples have been provided for you.
Unit 4 • An American Journey 295
Activity 4.4
continued
Hurston’s Colorful Language
Characters Say
We Say
dat, wid
that, with (“th” is often replaced by “d”)
skeer
scare (so “keer” must mean care)
ah
fuh
Diction is a writer’s choice
of words.
1. Hurston is known for using different levels of diction, including
dialect, in her writing. Review the levels of diction in the information
below. Then find examples of each level that Hurston uses in Chunk 1
of “Sweat.” Mark the text by color-coding the examples.
Dialect is the distinctive
language, including the
sounds, spelling, grammar,
and diction, of a specific
group or class of people.
High or formal diction usually contains language that creates
an elevated tone. It is free of slang, idioms, colloquialisms, and
contractions. It often contains polysyllabic words, sophisticated syntax,
and elegant word choice.
Literary terms
Informal or low diction is the language of everyday use. It is relaxed
and conversational. It often includes common and simple words, idioms,
slang, jargon, and contractions.
Dialect is a subgroup of a language with its own vocabulary and
grammatical features. Writers often use regional dialects or dialects
that reveal a person’s economic or social class.
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Neutral diction uses ordinary language and vocabulary without
elaborate words and may include contractions.
Activity 4.4
continued
3. Your teacher will lead you in a guided reading of “Sweat.” As the text
is read, use the questions in the My Notes section of the text to guide
your reading of each chunk. Annotate the chunk according to the
directions given in the margin. Be prepared to use your annotations
to support your ideas in a discussion.
4. After reading Chunk 3, look for similarities and differences among
the porch talkers you saw in the video production of the folktale that
Hurston recorded called “Why Women Always Take Advantage of
Men” and the men on the porch in “Sweat.”
Porch Talkers
“Sweat”
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
“Why Woman Always Take
Advantage of Men”
Unit 4 • An American Journey 297
Activity 4.4
continued
Hurston’s Colorful Language
My Notes
Short Story
by Zora Neale Hurston
Chunk 1
Underline the words and
phrases that Hurston uses
to characterize Delia and
Sykes.
It was eleven o’clock of a Spring night in Florida. It was Sunday. Any
other night, Delia Jones would have been in bed for two hours by this
time. But she was a wash-woman, and Monday morning meant a great
deal to her. So she collected the soiled clothes on Saturday when she
returned the clean things. Sunday night after church, she sorted them and
put the white things to soak. It saved her almost a half day’s start. A great
hamper in the bedroom held the clothes that she brought home. It was so
much neater than a number of bundles lying around.
Just then something long, round, limp and black fell upon her
shoulders and slithered to the floor beside her. A great terror took hold of
her. It softened her knees and dried her mouth so that it was a full minute
before she could cry out or move. Then she saw that it was the big bull
whip her husband liked to carry when he drove.
She lifted her eyes to the door and saw him standing there bent over
with laughter at her fright. She screamed at him.
“Sykes, what you throw dat whip on me like dat? You know it would
skeer me—looks just like a snake, an’ you knows how skeered Ah is of
snakes.”
“Course Ah knowed it! That’s how come Ah done it.” He slapped his
leg with his hand and almost rolled on the ground in his mirth. “If you
such a big fool dat you got to have a fit over a earth worm or a string, Ah
don’t keer how bad Ah skeer you.”
Chunk 2
Mark the words and phrases
that indicate conflict(s) in
the story.
“You aint got no business doing it. Gawd knows it’s a sin. Some day
Ah’m gointuh drop dead from some of yo’ foolishness. ‘Nother thing,
where you been wid mah rig? Ah feeds dat pony. He aint fuh you to be
drivin’ wid no bull whip.”
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She squatted in the kitchen floor beside the great pile of clothes,
sorting them into small heaps according to color, and humming a song in
a mournful key, but wondering through it all where Sykes, her husband,
had gone with her horse and buckboard.
Activity 4.4
continued
“You sho is one aggravatin’ nigger woman!” he declared and stepped
into the room. She resumed her work and did not answer him at once.
“Ah done tole you time and again to keep them white folks’ clothes outa
dis house.”
My Notes
He picked up the whip and glared down at her. Delia went on with
her work. She went out into the yard and returned with a galvanized tub
and set it on the washbench. She saw that Sykes had kicked all of the
clothes together again, and now stood in her way truculently, his whole
manner hoping, praying, for an argument. But she walked calmly around
him and commenced to re-sort the things.
“Next time, Ah’m gointer kick ‘em outdoors,” he threatened as he
struck a match along the leg of his corduroy breeches.
Delia never looked up from her work, and her thin, stooped
shoulders sagged further.
“Ah aint for no fuss t’night, Sykes. Ah just come from taking
sacrament at the church house.”
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
He snorted scornfully. “Yeah, you just come from de church house
on a Sunday night, but heah you is gone to work on them clothes. You
ain’t nothing but a hypocrite. One of them amen-corner Christians—sing,
whoop, and shout, then come home and wash white folks clothes on the
Sabbath.”
He stepped roughly upon the whitest pile of things, kicking them
helter-skelter as he crossed the room. His wife gave a little scream of
dismay, and quickly gathered them together again.
“Sykes, you quit grindin’ dirt into these clothes! How can Ah git
through by Sat’day if Ah don’t start on Sunday?”
“Ah don’t keer if you never git through. Anyhow, Ah done promised
Gawd and a couple of other men, Ah aint gointer have it in mah house.
Don’t gimme no lip neither, else Ah’ll throw ‘em out and put mah fist up
side yo’ head to boot.”
Delia’s habitual meekness seemed to slip from her shoulders like a
blown scarf. She was on her feet; her poor little body, her bare knuckly
hands bravely defying the strapping hulk before her.
“Looka heah, Sykes, you done gone too fur. Ah been married to you
fur fifteen years, and Ah been takin’ in washin’ for fifteen years. Sweat,
sweat, sweat! Work and sweat, cry and sweat, pray and sweat!”
“What’s that got to do with me?” he asked brutally.
“What’s it got to do with you, Sykes? Mah tub of suds is filled yo’ belly
with vittles more times than yo’ hands is filled it. Mah sweat is done paid
for this house and Ah reckon Ah kin keep on sweatin’ in it.”
Word
Connections
Expect comes from the
Latin prefix ex meaning
“thoroughly” and the Latin
root spectare meaning
“to look.” Spectator and
spectacle come from the
same root.
Unit 4 • An American Journey 299
Activity 4.4
continued
My Notes
Hurston’s Colorful Language
She seized the iron skillet from the stove and struck a defensive pose,
which act surprised him greatly, coming from her. It cowed him and he
did not strike her as he usually did.
“Naw you won’t,” she panted, “that ole snaggle-toothed black woman
you runnin’ with aint comin’ heah to pile up on mah sweat and blood.
You aint paid for nothin’ on this place, and Ah’m gointer stay right heah
till Ah’m toted out foot foremost.”
“Well, you better quit gittin’ me riled up, else they’ll be totin’ you out
sooner than you expect. Ah’m so tired of you Ah don’t know whut to do.
Gawd! how Ah hates skinny wimmen!”
She lay awake, gazing upon the debris that cluttered their
matrimonial trail. Not an image left standing along the way. Anything
like flowers had long ago been drowned in the salty stream that had been
pressed from her heart. Her tears, her sweat, her blood. She had brought
love to the union and he had brought a longing after the flesh. Two
months after the wedding, he had given her the first brutal beating. She
had the memory of his numerous trips to Orlando with all of his wages
when he had returned to her penniless, even before the first year had
passed. She was young and soft then, but now she thought of her knotty,
muscled limbs, her harsh knuckly hands, and drew herself up into an
unhappy little ball in the middle of the big feather bed. Too late now to
hope for love, even if it were not Bertha it would be someone else. This
case differed from the others only in that she was bolder than the others.
Too late for everything except her little home. She had built it for her old
days, and planted one by one the trees and flowers there. It was lovely to
her, lovely.
Somehow, before sleep came, she found herself saying aloud: “Oh
well, whatever goes over the Devil’s back, is got to come under his
belly. Sometime or ruther, Sykes, like everybody else, is gointer reap his
sowing.” After that she was able to build a spiritual earthworks against her
husband. His shells could no longer reach her. Amen. She went to sleep
and slept until he announced his presence in bed by kicking her feet and
rudely snatching the cover away.
“Gimme some kivah heah, an’ git yo’ damn foots over on yo’ own
side! Ah oughter mash you in yo’ mouf fuh drawing dat skillet on me.”
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A little awed by this new Delia, he sidled out of the door and
slammed the back gate after him. He did not say where he had gone, but
she knew too well. She knew very well that he would not return until
nearly daybreak also. Her work over, she went on to bed but not to sleep
at once. Things had come to a pretty pass!
Activity 4.4
continued
Delia went clear to the rail without answering him. A triumphant
indifference to all that he was or did.
My Notes
The week was as full of work for Delia as all other weeks, and
Saturday found her behind her little pony, collecting and delivering
clothes.
Chunk 3
It was a hot, hot day near the end of July. The village men on Joe
Clarke’s porch even chewed cane listlessly. They did not hurl the caneknots as usual. They let them dribble over the edge of the porch. Even
conversation had collapsed under the heat.
Underline the opinions
of the men on the porch
regarding Delia, Sykes, and
Bertha.
“Heah come Delia Jones,” Jim Merchant said, as the shaggy pony
came ‘round the bend of the road toward them. The rusty buckboard was
heaped with baskets of crisp, clean laundry.
“Yep,” Joe Lindsay agreed. “Hot or col’, rain or shine, jes ez reg’lar ez
de weeks roll roun’ Delia carries ‘em an’ fetches ‘em on Sat’day.”
“She better if she wanter eat,” said Moss. “Sykes Jones aint wuth de
shot an’ powder hit would tek tuh kill ‘em. Not to huh he aint. “
”He sho’ aint,” Walter Thomas chimed in. “It’s too bad, too, cause she
wuz a right pritty li’l trick when he got huh. Ah’d uh mah’ied huh mahseff
if he hadnter beat me to it.”
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
Delia nodded briefly at the men as she drove past.
“Too much knockin’ will ruin any ‘oman. He done beat huh ‘nough
tuh kill three women, let ‘lone change they looks,” said Elijah Moseley.
“How Sykes kin stommuck dat big black greasy Mogul he’s layin’ roun
wid, gits me. Ah swear dat eight-rock couldn’t kiss a sardine can Ah done
throwed out de back do’ ‘way las’ yeah.”
“Aw, she’s fat, thass how come. He’s allus been crazy ‘bout fat women,”
put in Merchant. “He’d a’ been tied up wid one long time ago if he could
a’ found one tuh have him. Did Ah tell yuh ‘bout him come sidlin’ roun’
mah wife—bringin’ her a basket uh pee-cans outa his yard fuh a present?
Yessir, mah wife! She tol’ him tuh take ‘em right straight back home, cause
Delia works so hard ovah dat washtub she reckon everything on de place
taste lak sweat an’ soapsuds. Ah jus’ wisht Ah’d a’ caught ‘im ‘roun’ dere!
Ah’d a’ made his hips ketch on fiah down dat shell road.”
“Ah know he done it, too. Ah sees ‘im grinnin’ at every ‘oman dat
passes,” Walter Thomas said. “But even so, he useter eat some mighty big
hunks uh humble pie tuh git dat lil’ ‘oman he got. She wuz ez pritty ez a
speckled pup! Dat wuz fifteen yeahs ago. He useter be so skeered uh losin’
huh, she could make him do some parts of a husband’s duty. Dey never
wuz de same in de mind.”
“There oughter be a law about him,” said Lindsay. “He aint fit tuh
carry guts tuh a bear.”
Unit 4 • An American Journey 301
Activity 4.4
continued
My Notes
Hurston’s Colorful Language
Clarke spoke for the first time. “Taint no law on earth dat kin make a
man be decent if it aint in ‘im. There’s plenty men dat takes a wife lak dey
do a joint uh sugar-cane. It’s round, juicy an’ sweet when dey gits it. But
dey squeeze an’ grind, squeeze an’ grind an’ wring tell dey wring every
drop uh pleasure dat’s in ‘em out. When dey’s satisfied dat dey is wrung
dry, dey treats ‘em jes lak dey do a cane-chew. Dey throws ‘em away. Dey
knows whut dey is doin’ while dey is at it, an’ hates theirselves fuh it but
they keeps on hangin’ after huh tell she’s empty. Den dey hates huh fuh
bein’ a cane-chew an’ in de way.”
“We oughter take Sykes an’ dat stray ‘oman uh his’n down in Lake
Howell swamp an’ lay on de rawhide till they cain’t say ‘Lawd a’ mussy.’ He
allus wuz uh ovahbearin’ niggah, but since dat white ‘oman from up north
done teached ‘im how to run a automobile, he done got too biggety to
live—an’ we oughter kill ‘im,” Old Man Anderson advised.
A grunt of approval went around the porch. But the heat was melting
their civic virtue and Elijah Moseley began to bait Joe Clarke.
“Come on, Joe, git a melon outa dere an’ slice it up for yo’ customers.
We’se all sufferin’ wid de heat. De bear’s done got me!”
“A god, an’ be dough. You all gimme twenty cents and slice way,”
Clarke retorted. “Ah needs a col’ slice m’self. Heah, everybody chip in.
Ah’ll lend y’ll mah meat knife.”
The money was quickly subscribed and the huge melon brought
forth. At that moment, Sykes and Bertha arrived. A determined silence
fell on the porch and the melon was put away again.
Merchant snapped down the blade of his jackknife and moved toward
the store door.
“Come on in, Joe, an’ gimme a slab uh sow belly an’ uh pound uh
coffee—almost fuhgot ‘twas Sat’day. Got to git on home.” Most of the men
left also.
Just then Delia drove past on her way home, as Sykes was ordering
magnificently for Bertha. It pleased him for Delia to see.
“Git whutsoever yo’ heart desires, Honey. Wait a minute, Joe. Give
huh two bottles uh strawberry soda-water, uh quart uh parched groundpeas, an’ a block uh chewin’ gum.”
With all this they left the store, with Sykes reminding Bertha that this
was his town and she could have it if she wanted it.
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“Thass right, Joe, a watermelon is jes’ whut Ah needs tuh cure de
eppizudicks,” Walter Thomas joined forces with Moseley. “Come on dere,
Joe. We all is steady customers an’ you aint set us up in a long time. Ah
chooses dat long, bowlegged Floridy favorite.”
Activity 4.4
continued
The men returned soon after they left, and held their watermelon
feast.
My Notes
“Where did Sykes Jones git da ‘oman from nohow?” Lindsay asked.
“Ovah Apopka. Guess dey musta been cleanin’ out de town when she
lef ’. She don’t look lak a thing but a hunk uh liver wid hair on it.”
“Well, she sho’ kin squall,” Dave Carter contributed. “When she gits
ready tuh laff, she jes’ opens huh mouf an’ latches it back tuh de las’ notch.
No ole grandpa alligator down in Lake Bell ain’t got nothin’ on huh.”
Bertha had been in town three months now. Sykes was still paying her
room rent at Della Lewis’—the only house in town that would have taken
her in. Sykes took her frequently to Winter Park to “stomps.” He still
assured her that he was the swellest man in the state.
“Sho’ you kin have dat lil’ ole house soon’s Ah kin git dat ‘oman
outa dere. Everything b’longs tuh me an’ you sho’ kin have it. Ah sho’
‘bominates uh skinny ‘oman. Lawdy, you sho’ is got one portly shape on
you! You kin git anything you wants. Dis is mah town an’ you sho’ kin
have it.”
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
Delia’s work-worn knees crawled over the earth in Gethsemane and
up the rocks of Calvary many, many times during these months. She
avoided the villagers and meeting places in her efforts to be blind and
deaf. But Bertha nullified this to a degree, by coming to Delia’s house to
call Sykes out to her at the gate.
Chunk 4
Underline the opinions
of the men on the porch
regarding Delia, Sykes, and
Bertha.
Literary terms
Figurative language goes
beyond literal meanings by
using words or phrases to
describe one thing in terms
of another.
Delia and Sykes fought all the time now with no peaceful interludes.
They slept and ate in silence. Two or three times Delia had attempted a
timid friendliness, but she was repulsed each time. It was plain that the
breaches must remain agape.
***
The sun had burned July to August. The heat streamed down like
a million hot arrows, smiting all things living upon the earth. Grass
withered, leaves browned, snakes went blind in shedding and men and
dogs went mad. Dog days!
Delia came home one day and found Sykes there before her. She
wondered, but started to go on into the house without speaking, even
though he was standing in the kitchen door and she must either stoop
under his arm or ask him to move. He made no room for her. She noticed
a soap box beside the steps, but paid no particular attention to it, knowing
that he must have brought it there. As she was stooping to pass under his
outstretched arm, he suddenly pushed her backward, laughingly.
“Look in de box dere Delia, Ah done brung yuh somethin’!”
Unit 4 • An American Journey 303
Activity 4.4
continued
Hurston’s Colorful Language
My Notes
She nearly fell upon the box in her stumbling, and when she saw what
it held, she all but fainted outright.
“Sykes! Sykes, mah Gawd! You take dat rattlesnake ‘way from heah!
You gottuh. Oh, Jesus, have mussy!”
“Ah aint gut tuh do nuthin’ uh de kin’—fact is Ah aint got tuh do
nothin’ but die. Taint no use uh you puttin’ on airs makin’ out lak you
skeered uh dat snake—he’s gointer stay right heah tell he die. He wouldn’t
bite me cause Ah knows how tuh handle ‘im. Nohow he wouldn’t risk
breakin’ out his fangs ‘gin yo’ skinny laigs.”
“Naw, now Sykes, don’t keep dat thing ‘roun’ heah tuh skeer me tuh
death. You knows Ah’m even feared uh earth worms. Thass de biggest
snake Ah evah did see. Kill ‘im Sykes, please.”
“Doan ast me tuh do nothin’ fuh yuh. Goin’ roun’ trying’ tuh be so
damn astorperious. Naw, Ah aint gonna kill it. Ah think uh damn sight
mo’ uh him dan you! Dat’s a nice snake an’ anybody doan lak ‘im kin jes’
hit de grit.”
The village soon heard that Sykes had the snake, and came to see and
ask questions.
“How de hen-fire did you ketch dat six-foot rattler, Sykes?” Thomas
asked.
“Whut he needs is a heavy hick’ry club leaned real heavy on his head.
Dat’s de bes ‘way tuh charm a rattlesnake.”
“Naw, Walt, y’all jes’ don’t understand dese diamon’ backs lak Ah do,”
said Sykes in a superior tone of voice.
Chunk 5
Underline the words and
phrases the characters use to
describe each other.
The village agreed with Walter, but the snake stayed on. His box
remained by the kitchen door with its screen wire covering. Two or three
days later it had digested its meal of frogs and literally came to life. It
rattled at every movement in the kitchen or the yard. One day as Delia
came down the kitchen steps she saw his chalky-white fangs curved like
scimitars hung in the wire meshes. This time she did not run away with
averted eyes as usual. She stood for a long time in the doorway in a red
fury that grew bloodier for every second that she regarded the creature
that was her torment.
That night she broached the subject as soon as Sykes sat down to the table.
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“He’s full uh frogs so he caint hardly move, thass how Ah eased up on
‘m. But Ah’m a snake charmer an’ knows how tuh handle ‘em. Shux, dat
aint nothin’. Ah could ketch one eve’y day if Ah so wanted tuh.”
Activity 4.4
continued
“Sykes, Ah wants you tuh take dat snake ‘way fum heah. You done
starved me an’ Ah put up widcher, you done beat me an Ah took dat, but
you done kilt all mah insides bringin’ dat varmint heah.”
My Notes
Sykes poured out a saucer full of coffee and drank it deliberately
before he answered her.
“A whole lot Ah keer ‘bout how you feels inside uh out. Dat snake aint goin’ no damn wheah till Ah gits ready fuh ‘im tuh go. So fur as
beatin’ is concerned, yuh aint took near all dat you gointer take ef yuh
stay ‘roun’ me.”
Delia pushed back her plate and got up from the table. “Ah hates
you, Sykes,” she said calmly. “Ah hates you tuh de same degree dat Ah
useter love yuh. Ah done took an’ took till mah belly is full up tuh mah
neck. Dat’s de reason Ah got mah letter fum de church an’ moved mah
membership tuh Woodbridge—so Ah don’t haftuh take no sacrament wid
yuh. Ah don’t wantuh see yuh ‘roun’ me a-tall. Lay ‘roun’ wid dat ‘oman
all yuh wants tuh, but gwan ‘way fum me an’ mah house. Ah hates yuh lak
uh suck-egg dog.”
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
Sykes almost let the huge wad of corn bread and collard greens he
was chewing fall out of his mouth in amazement. He had a hard time
whipping himself up to the proper fury to try to answer Delia.
“Well, Ah’m glad you does hate me. Ah’m sho’ tiahed uh you hangin’
ontuh me. Ah don’t want yuh. Look at yuh stringey ole neck! Yo’ rawbony
laigs an’ arms is enough tuh cut uh man tuh death. You looks jes’ lak de
devvul’s doll-baby tuh me. You cain’t hate me no worse dan Ah hates you.
Ah been hatin’ you fuh years.”
“Yo’ ole black hide don’t look lak nothin’ tuh me, but uh passle uh
wrinkled up rubber, wid yo’ big ole yeahs flappin’ on each side lak uh paih
uh buzzard wings. Don’t think Ah’m gointuh be run ‘way fum mah house
neither. Ah’m goin’ tuh de white folks bout you, mah young man, de very
nex’ time you lay yo’ han’s on me. Mah cup is done run ovah.” Delia said
this with no signs of fear and Sykes departed from the house, threatening
her, but made not the slightest move to carry out any of them.
That night he did not return at all, and the next day being Sunday,
Delia was glad she did not have to quarrel before she hitched up her pony
and drove the four miles to Woodbridge.
Chunk 6
Underline the references to
the snake.
She stayed to the night service—“love feast”—which was very warm
and full of spirit. In the emotional winds her domestic trials were borne
far and wide so that she sang as she drove homeward,
Jurden water, black an’ col’
Chills de body, not de soul
An’ Ah wantah cross Jurden in uh calm time.
Unit 4 • An American Journey 305
Activity 4.4
continued
My Notes
Hurston’s Colorful Language
She came from the barn to the kitchen door and stopped.
“Whut’s de mattah, ol’ satan, you aint kickin’ up yo’ racket?” She
addressed the snake’s box. Complete silence. She went on into the house
with a new hope in its birth struggles. Perhaps her threat to go to the
white folks had frightened Sykes! Perhaps he was sorry! Fifteen years of
misery and suppression had brought Delia to the place where she would
hope anything that looked towards a way over or through her wall of
inhibitions.
She felt in the match safe behind the stove at once for a match. There
was only one there.
“Dat niggah wouldn’t fetch nothin’ heah tuh save his rotten neck, but
he kin run thew whut Ah brings quick enough. Now he done toted off
nigh on tuh haff uh box uh matches. He done had dat ‘oman heah in mah
house, too.”
Nobody but a woman could tell how she knew this even before she
struck the match. But she did and it put her into a new fury.
“Ah wantah cross Jurden in uh calm time.” She was singing again.
The mood of the “love feast” had returned. She threw back the lid
of the basket almost gaily. Then, moved by both horror and terror,
she sprang back toward the door. There lay the snake in the basket!
He moved sluggishly at first, but even as she turned round and
round, jumped up and down in an insanity of fear, he began to
stir vigorously. She saw him pouring his awful beauty from the
basket upon the bed, then she seized the lamp and ran as fast
as she could to the kitchen. The wind from the open door blew
out the light and the darkness added to her terror. She sped to
the darkness of the yard, slamming the door after her before she
thought to set down the lamp. She did not feel safe even on the
ground, so she climbed up in the hay barn.
There for an hour or more she lay sprawled upon the hay a
gibbering wreck.
Finally, she grew quiet, and after that, coherent thought.
With this, stalked through her a cold, bloody rage. Hours of
this. A period of introspection, a space of retrospection, then a
mixture of both. Out of this an awful calm.
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Presently she brought in the tubs to put the white things to soak. This
time she decided she need not bring the hamper out of the bedroom; she
would go in there and do the sorting. She picked up the pot-bellied lamp
and went in. The room was small and the hamper stood hard by the foot
of the white iron bed. She could sit and reach through the bedposts—
resting as she worked.
Activity 4.4
continued
“Well, Ah done de bes’ Ah could. If things aint right, Gawd knows
taint mah fault.”
My Notes
She went to sleep—a twitchy sleep—and woke up to a faint gray sky.
There was a loud hollow sound below. She peered out. Sykes was at the
wood-pile, demolishing a wire-covered box.
He hurried to the kitchen door, but hung outside there some minutes
before he entered, and stood some minutes more inside before he closed
it after him.
The gray in the sky was spreading. Delia descended without fear now,
and crouched beneath the low bedroom window. The drawn shade shut
out the dawn, shut in the night. But the thin walls held back no sound.
“Dat ol’ scratch is woke up now!” She mused at the tremendous whirr
inside, which every woodsman knows, is one of the sound illusions. The
rattler is a ventriloquist. His whirr sounds to the right, to the left, straight
ahead, behind, close under foot—everywhere but where it is. Woe to
him who guesses wrong unless he is prepared to hold up his end of the
argument! Sometimes he strikes without rattling at all.
Inside, Sykes heard nothing until he knocked a pot lid off the stove
while trying to reach the match safe in the dark. He had emptied his
pockets at Bertha’s.
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
The snake seemed to wake up under the stove and Sykes made a
quick leap into the bedroom. In spite of the gin he had had, his head was
clearing now.
“‘Mah Gawd!” he chattered, “ef Ah could on’y strack uh light!”
The rattling ceased for a moment as he stood paralyzed. He waited. It
seemed that the snake waited also.
“Oh, fuh de light! Ah thought he’d be too sick”—Sykes was muttering
to himself when the whirr began again, closer, right underfoot this time.
Long before this, Sykes’ ability to think had been flattened down to
primitive instinct and he leaped—onto the bed.
Outside Delia heard a cry that might have come from a maddened
chimpanzee, a stricken gorilla. All the terror, all the horror, all the rage
that man possibly could express, without a recognizable human sound.
&
Grammar
Usage
Hurston uses three
sentence fragments to
describe what Delia sees
and hears. The first two
fragments focus on the
sounds and lack a verb.
The third focuses on the
movement and uses strong
verbal phrases. These
fragments are deliberate
snippets of sounds,
actions, and colors that
pile up to create a vivid
scene.
Unit 4 • An American Journey 307
Activity 4.4
continued
My Notes
Hurston’s Colorful Language
A tremendous stir inside there, another series of animal screams, the
intermittent whirr of the reptile. The shade torn violently down from the
window, letting in the red dawn, a huge brown hand seizing the window
stick, great dull blows upon the wooden floor punctuating the gibberish
of sound long after the rattle of the snake had abruptly subsided. All this
Delia could see and hear from her place beneath the window, and it made
her ill. She crept over to the four-o’clocks and stretched herself on the cool
earth to recover.
She lay there. “Delia, Delia!” She could hear Sykes calling in a most
despairing tone as one who expected no answer. The sun crept on up, and
he called. Delia could not move—her legs were gone flabby. She never
moved, he called, and the sun kept rising.
“Mah Gawd!” She heard him moan, “Mah Gawd fum Heben!” She
heard him stumbling about and got up from her flower-bed. The sun
was growing warm. As she approached the door she heard him call out
hopefully, “Delia, is dat you Ah heah?”
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
She saw him on his hands and knees as soon as she reached the door.
He crept an inch or two toward her—all that he was able, and she saw
his horribly swollen neck and his one open eye shining with hope. A
surge of pity too strong to support bore her away from that eye that must,
could not, fail to see the tubs. He would see the lamp. Orlando with its
doctors was too far. She could scarcely reach the Chinaberry tree, where
she waited in the growing heat while inside she knew the cold river was
creeping up and up to extinguish that eye which must know by now that
she knew.
308 SpringBoard® English Textual Power™ Level 6
Activity 4.4
continued
After you have finished reading “Sweat,” look back through the text and
find examples of foreshadowing for the story’s ending. List them in the
space below.
Literary terms
Foreshadowing is the use of
hints and clues to suggest
what will happen later in a
plot.
Allusions are references
to someone or something
that is known from another
source, such as history,
religion, or literature.
Hurston’s upbringing and love of reading made her well-versed in the
Bible, and Biblical allusions are a hallmark of her writing style. What are
some of the Biblical allusions you noticed in “Why Women Always Take
Advantage of Men” and “Sweat?” Use the chart below to identify and
explain how the allusions create meaning in the text.
Effect on the Text
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
Biblical Allusions
A writer’s style is the
distinctive way he or she
uses language.
4. At the beginning of the story, you discussed the whip as a symbol
in the story. Discuss other symbols that you noticed in the story. Be
sure to include details from the story for support.
Unit 4 • An American Journey 309
Activity 4.4
continued
Hurston’s Colorful Language
Literary terms
Tone is the attitude a writer
takes toward a subject.
Theme is the insight about
human life that is revealed
in a work.
Once you have finished reading “Sweat,” use SIFT to help you analyze
the story. Focus on how the symbols, images, and figurative language
Hurston uses in the story reveal her tone and a theme found in the
story.
Stylistic Elements
How They Contribute to Tone/Theme
Symbols
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
Images
Figurative Language
Writing Prompt: Using your teacher’s model, write an analysis of
Hurston’s short story “Sweat” on separate paper. Choose a method of
prewriting and then draft your analysis, weaving in quotes from the text
as support.
310 SpringBoard® English Textual Power™ Level 6
Janie’s Return Home
Activity
4.5
SUGGESTED LEARNING STRATEGIES: Word Map, Quickwrite,
Visualizing, Think-Pair-Share, Oral Interpretation
1. On separate paper, create a web using the words horizons/dreams
as the central focus. On your web, write the connotations and
denotations of those words. For example, one word associated with
horizons would be hopes.
Horizons/
Dreams
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
Quickwrite: After completing your web, write a reflection about the
imagery associated with these two words.
Janie’s Return from a Long Journey
2. Read the first two paragraphs of Chapter 1. What distinction do the
first two paragraphs make between men and women?
3. What questions do these paragraphs raise for you?
Unit 4 • An American Journey 311
Activity 4.5
continued
Janie’s Return Home
4. Male students: Interpret and analyze the first paragraph. Note your
findings and be prepared to present them to the female students
in your class. Female students: Interpret and analyze the second
paragraph. Note your findings and be prepared to present them to the
male students in your class.
Literary terms
Imagery is language that
evokes a mental picture or
physical sensation through
vivid details that appeal to
the senses.
The Porch Sitters
5. As Hurston describes the woman, where she has been, and the
people who see her return, she uses imagery that appeals to the
senses. List several of the images and the senses they appeal to in
the space below. How do these images impact the reader?
Senses the Image Appeals To
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
Image
312 SpringBoard® English Textual Power™ Level 6
Activity 4.5
continued
5. How does the porch serve as a metaphor for judgment?
Literary terms
A metaphor makes a
comparison between two
dissimilar things without
using like, as, than, or
resembles.
Re-read the porch scene and look for any information “Mouth
Almighty,” or the porch sitters, reveal about the protagonist, Janie.
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
6. What story does Janie have to tell? Who is her audience?
Unit 4 • An American Journey 313
Activity
4.6
Nanny’s Life
SUGGESTED LEARNING STRATEGIES: Marking the Text, Think-PairShare, Double-Entry Journal, Graphic Organizer
My Notes
Poetry
About the Author
Fascinated with jazz rhythms and the lyrics of blues music,
Langston Hughes’ first book of poetry, The Weary Blues,
was published in 1926. A major figure in the Harlem
Renaissance, Hughes also wrote novels, short stories,
plays, and nonfiction. His works captured and celebrated
the colorful culture of black America.
by Langston Hughes
5
And boards all torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor —
Bare.
But all the time
I’se been a-climbin’ on
10
And reachin’ landin’s,
And turnin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark
Where there ain’t been no light.
So boy, don’t you turn back.
15
Don’t you set down on the steps
’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.
Don’t you fall now —
For I’se still goin’, honey,
I’se still climbin’,
And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
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© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks in it,
And splinters,
Activity 4.6
continued
1. Identify the key metaphor in the poem “Mother to Son,” and
comment on its effectiveness.
2. How might the poem change if it were written from the son’s point
of view?
Literary terms
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
Point of view is the
perspective from which a
literary work is told.
Unit 4 • An American Journey 315
Activity 4.6
continued
Nanny’s Life
3. Hurston organized Their Eyes Were Watching God as a frame novel, in
which the first and last chapters form a frame for the story that Janie
tells her friend Phoeby. Can you think of other stories, books, or films
that use a frame structure?
Literary terms
A simile compares two
dissimilar things using a
word such as like, as, than,
or resembles.
4. Consider the following sentences from Chapter 2: “Janie saw her life
like a great tree in leaf with things suffered, things enjoyed, things
done and undone. Dawn and doom was in the branches.” Why do you
think Hurston chose to juxtapose opposing images as she presents
the central simile?
5. As you continue reading Chapter 2, use your own double-entry
journal (modeled below) to take notes on the figurative language
Hurston uses.
Figurative language from Chapter 2
316 SpringBoard® English Textual Power™ Level 6
Analysis, Commentary, Reflection…
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
Chapter 2: Exploring Figurative language
Activity 4.6
continued
6. Within the first two chapters of Hurston’s novel, what images do you
see repeated? What might these motifs represent?
Academic VocaBulary
A motif is a recurrent theme,
subject, character type,
or image that becomes a
unifying element in a text.
7. Sketch Janie’s family tree.
8. Once you have finished reading Chapter 2, compare and contrast the
voice of Nanny to the voice of Hughes’ narrator in “Mother to Son.”
Create a graphic organizer on separate paper to record your thinking.
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
9. One of the hallmarks of Hurston’s writing style is her use of narrative
voice. List all the narrators you find in Chapter 2. As you continue to
read Their Eyes Were Watching God, pay attention to the way Hurston
skillfully shifts between different narrative voices.
10. You have seen how Hurston compares Janie’s life to a tree and
Nanny’s life to a very different tree. On a separate sheet of paper,
create a visual representation of your own life, using a tree as a
metaphor. Under your visual representation, write an explanation of
the tree metaphor you have created.
Unit 4 • An American Journey 317
Activity
4.7
Nanny, Janie, and Logan
SUGGESTED LEARNING STRATEGIES: Quickwrite, Predicting,
Discussion Groups, Close Reading
Chapters 3 and 4
Quickwrite: “There are years that ask questions and years that
answer.” Write a speculative response on what the upcoming year will
hold for Janie. Will this year be the year that asks questions or one that
answers them? Will this be the year that does both?
1. As Janie evaluates her marriage to Logan Killicks, Hurston presents
the recurring image of the horizon (page 25): “The familiar people
and things had failed her so she hung over the gate and looked up
the road towards way off. She knew now that marriage did not make
love. Janie’s first dream was dead, so she became a woman.” Discuss
how Janie’s frustration helps her growing self-awareness.
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Your teacher will assign you to discussion groups. Discuss the
questions that follow and take notes relating to the events in
Chapters 3 and 4.
Activity 4.7
continued
2. Nanny desired that Janie would have a life far different from her own
and Leafy’s. Discuss what Nanny desired for Janie and what actions
Nanny took to realize this. Read the text closely to identify examples
of irony in Nanny’s actions and the result of them.
Literary terms
Irony is a discrepancy
between expectations
and reality.
3. What symbolic act does Janie perform when she leaves Logan?
Examine the paragraph that begins, “The morning road air….” How
does Hurston’s word choice reveal her tone toward this development
of the plot?
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
4. Re-read the paragraph that begins, “Joe Starks was the name….”
Who is the narrator? Why do you think Hurston chose to present Joe’s
introduction in this way?
5. Chapter 4 ends with Janie leaving for Green Cove Springs with Joe
Starks. Predict how Janie and Joe’s relationship will develop after
she runs out on Logan. Will her dream become truth? How do the
motifs of the horizon and of the pear tree and bees factor into Janie’s
leaving?
Unit 4 • An American Journey 319
Activity
4.8
Janie’s New Life
SUGGESTED LEARNING STRATEGIES: Questioning the Text, Close
Reading, Graphic Organizer, Think-Pair-Share, Discussion Groups
Chapter 5
1. Read Chapter 5 and then write three questions for each of the
following levels of questions:
• Literal (what the text says)
• Interpretive (what the text means)
• Universal (why it matters)
Literal
Based on Joe Starks’s
statements about women,
what can the reader infer?
Universal
How does society define male
and female roles?
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
What does Joe Starks say
when the audience requests
that Janie speak?
Interpretive
2. Share your questions with your classmates. With your class, choose
three questions that best identify the central issues of Chapter 5.
Write those questions below.
320 SpringBoard® English Textual Power™ Level 6
Activity 4.8
continued
Chapter 6
As an anthropologist, Hurston collected stories, conversations, and
other aspects of oral tradition that she then infused into her writing.
As you read Chapter 6, watch for elements of humor such as tall tales/
hyperbole, parody, and riddles.
3. In the space below, list examples and their effect for each element
of humor.
Example from the Chapter
Effect
Tall tales/Hyperbole
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
Parody
Riddles
Unit 4 • An American Journey 321
Activity 4.8
continued
Janie’s New Life
Think about the characters, setting, and conflicts in Chapters 5 and 6.
Then write analytical responses to the interpretive questions below.
4. Why does Joe pamper the mule he bought from Matt Bonner? What
effect does his special treatment have on the mule? Do you see any
parallels in his treatment of Janie?
6. “She had an inside and an outside now and suddenly she knew how
not to mix them.” When have you seen evidence of the two sides of
Janie in Chapters 5 and 6? What is the reason for this disparity?
Writing Prompt: Using blues music as inspiration, craft a poetic
reflection of “Janie’s Blues” on separate paper.
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© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
5. Hurston often used Eatonville, her real-life childhood home, as a
setting in her work. Describe Eatonville as it is presented in Their
Eyes Were Watching God. What effect is the young town having on
Joe, Janie, and their marriage?
Activity
The Two Sides of Janie
4.9
SUGGESTED LEARNING STRATEGIES: Close Reading, Marking the Text,
Predicting, Shared Reading, Graphic Organizer
Chapters 7 and 8
1. After reading the first two paragraphs of Chapter 7, describe how the
author’s use of imagery expresses Janie’s sense of her marriage.
2. As you read Chapters 7 and 8, use this graphic organizer to record
characters’ actions and emotional responses.
Important Plot Developments
Adjectives to Describe Janie’s
Emotional Response
Chapter 7:
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
Chapter 8:
Chapter 9
3. Use the chart above to create a two-sided mask whereby you
explore Janie’s inner self in contrast to her outer self. The mask
should include descriptive adjectives, relevant quotes, and symbolic
representations of Janie’s character.
Unit 4 • An American Journey 323
Activity 4.9
continued
The Two Sides of Janie
4. A close re-reading of the second paragraph in Chapter 9, which
begins “Janie starched and ironed her face…” will reveal several
interesting stylistic choices that Hurston made. Look carefully at
these elements of style and take notes in the chart below about what
you find.
Stylistic Element
Examples from Chapter 9
Effect on Tone
Diction
Figurative
Language
Structure or
organization
Point of view
Writing Prompt: Choose one of these stylistic techniques and write
about how it affects the tone of the paragraph or the chapter. Be sure to
weave in a quote from the novel to enhance your writing.
324 SpringBoard® English Textual Power™ Level 6
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
Syntax
Discussion Groups
Activity
4.10
SUGGESTED LEARNING STRATEGIES: Discussion Groups, Questioning
the Text, Notetaking
You have approached the first half of Their Eyes Were Watching God in a
variety of ways, such as shared reading, oral interpretation, and guided
reading. For the second half of the novel, you will move to greater
independence, reading on your own and participating in student-led
discussion groups.
The remaining chapters of the novel can be divided into these broad
chunks:
Chapters 10 to 13 (Janie and Tea Cake in Eatonville);
Chapters 14 to 19 (Janie and Tea Cake on the Muck).
You will read Chapter 20 with your class in the next activity.
1. For each chapter from 10–19, you will write literal, interpretive,
and universal questions to help guide your group discussions. Use
the following topics to help you create questions and guide your
discussion of the novel.
• elements of Hurston’s style (figurative language, diction, tone,
imagery, syntax, structure) that impressed members of the group
• Janie’s literal journey through a variety of settings as well as her
figurative journey
• Hurston’s recurring motifs, such as the pear tree and the horizon
• how Janie uses her voice or does not use her voice, as well as how
her voice changes
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
• Hurston’s approach to point of view in the novel,
• how an author’s style constructs and reflects a character’s
identity (one of the unit’s essential questions),
• important themes of the novel.
2. At the first meeting of your discussion group, create a schedule
for reading, making sure that your schedule reflects the timeline
provided by your teacher. Make sure that each group member writes
down the reading schedule in his or her calendar; it is imperative for
each member of the group to maintain the reading schedule in order
for discussions to be effective.
3. A model of a notetaking guide is provided for you. You may copy this
guide onto separate paper or modify it to fit your discussions; just be
sure to take good notes during each discussion. These notes will help
you understand the novel and prepare for writing an analytical essay.
Unit 4 • An American Journey 325
Activity 4.10
continued
Discussion Groups
You might use the following notetaking guide as a model for your notes,
or create something similar to capture your discussions.
A. Complete before meeting with your discussion group.
Today’s date:
Interpretive questions based on the reading
assignment
Reading assignment:
Universal questions based on the reading
assignment
B. Notes during the group’s discussion.
Topic 1:
Topic 2:
Notes:
Notes:
C. Individual reflection on today’s group discussion.
326 SpringBoard® English Textual Power™ Level 6
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
Today’s topics:
Activity
The End of a Long Journey
4.11
SUGGESTED Learning Strategies: Double-Entry Journal, Shared
Reading, Drafting, Sharing and Responding
1. As Chapter 20 is read aloud, use a double-entry journal like the model
below to record and analyze the imagery and/or figurative language
that surfaces in the text.
Passages from Chapter 20: Rich Imagery,
Figurative language
Interpretation, Analysis, Reflection
2. Revisit Chapter 1 and make connections between the images that
surfaced initially in the novel and those that come at the end of the
novel.
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
Chapter 1
Chapter 20
Analysis and Commentary
The Frame Story
Hurston chose to organize this novel by having Chapters 1 and 20
frame Janie’s telling of her story to Phoeby. By the end of the novel, if
you return to the first scene, you have a much clearer understanding of
Janie’s perception of her life and her “grand journey.”
3. After re-reading the first chapter, on separate paper write an interior
monologue that captures the thoughts that may be going through
Janie’s mind as she walks past the porch sitters upon her return to
Eatonville.
Unit 4 • An American Journey 327
Activity 4.11
continued
The End of a Long Journey
Thematic Statement
Now that you have read the novel and discussed it at length, think
about the major themes presented in it.
4. Write a thematic statement in which you synthesize your
understanding of the novel’s literary elements and how they informed
your interpretation of the author’s purpose.
Critical Responses
5. Read the assessments that follow and annotate in the margins,
comparing each one to your understanding of the themes of Their
Eyes Were Watching God.
“It is folklore fiction at its best, which we gratefully accept as an
overdue replacement for so much faulty local color fiction about
Negroes. But when will the Negro novelist of maturity, who knows
how to tell a story convincingly—which is Miss Hurston’s cradle
gift, come to grips with motive fiction and social document fiction?
Progressive southern fiction has already banished the legend of
these entertaining pseudo-primitives whom the reading public
still loves to laugh with, weep over and envy. Having gotten rid of
condescension, let us now get over oversimplification!”
Alain Locke
Opportunity, June 1, 1938
328 SpringBoard® English Textual Power™ Level 6
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
Much has been written in response to Their Eyes Were Watching
God. Henry Louis Gates says, “The curious aspect of the widespread
critical attention being shown to Hurston’s texts is that so many critics
embracing such a diversity of theoretic approaches seem to find
something new at which to marvel in her texts.”
Activity 4.11
continued
Critical Responses (continued)
“In fact, when she [Janie] first talks with Phoeby, she speaks not of
romance and adoration of Tea Cake but of experiences much wider
than love or even Tea Cake as an individual: “‘Ah been a delegate to
de big ‘ssociation of life,’” she tells her; “‘Yessuh! De Grand Lodge, de
big convention of livin’ is just where Ah been dis year and a half y’all
ain’t seen me’” (18). In contrast to some readers’ focus on romance
and Janie’s relationship with Tea Cake, living—not just loving—is what
Word
Connections
Omniscient is formed from
two Latin words: omnis
meaning “all” and scientia
meaning “knowledge.”
Omnipotent, omnibus, and
omnivorous use the prefix,
while science, and scientist
use the root.
Janie stresses in reviewing her own experience. Such a focus is also
the omniscient narrator’s. When in the book’s final images, Janie pulls
in her horizon “like a great fish-net,” it is “life” (286)—including, but
certainly not limited to love—that she finds in its meshes. When Janie
does speak to Phoeby about love, it is not to depict her relationship
with Tea Cake as perfect or necessarily even the sole love of her life but
to describe love as many-faceted and ever-changing. Love, for a woman
who is supremely confident and self-affirming, “‘ain’t somethin’ lak uh
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
grindstone dat’s de same thing everywhere and do the same thing tuh
everything it touch. Love is lak de sea. It’s uh movin’ thing, but still and
all, it takes its shape from de shore it meets, and it’s different with every
shore’” (284). As Janie here suggests, she emerges from the novel as no
conventional romantic heroine searching to duplicate her relationship
with Tea Cake or turning away from life because of the futility of doing
so but as an autonomous black woman who faces the future in a spirit
of engagement and openness to the flux of experience, “the dawn
and doom” she has learned make up love and life.” (Susan Edwards
Meisenhelder, “Mink Skin or Coon Hide”: The Janus-faced Narrative of
Their Eyes Were Watching God )
“In a rich prose (which has, at the same time, a sort of nervous
sensibility) she tells the tale of a girl who ‘wanted things sweet with
mah marriage, lak when you sit under a pear tree and think.’ Janie did
Unit 4 • An American Journey 329
The End of a Long Journey
Activity 4.11
continued
&
Grammar
Usage
When you quote a critic,
who then quotes a part
of the text, you must use
double quotation marks
around the critic’s words
and single quotation marks
around the words of the
text. Notice how Janie’s
words are enclosed in
single quotation marks.
Critical Responses (continued)
not get sweetness when her Grandma married her to Mister Killicks
with his sixty acres of West Florida land, and his sagging belly, and his
toenails that looked like mules’ foots; and she didn’t get it when she ran
off with Joe Starks and got to be the Mayor’s wife, and sat on her own
store porch. But when Tea Cake came along with his trampish clothes
and his easy ways and his nice grin that made even a middle-aged
woman like Janie sort of wishful the minute she sets eyes on him, he
handed her the keys of the kingdom, and their life together (what there
was of it) was rapture and fun and tenderness and understanding—the
perfect relationship of man and woman, whether they be black or
white.” (Sheila Hibben, The New York Herald Tribune Weekly Book
Review, September 26, 1937)
“The story of Janie’s life down on the muck of Florida Glades, bean
picking, hunting and the men shooting dice in the evening and how
the hurricane came up and drove the animals and the Indians and
Cake, in Janie’s eyes the ‘son of Evening Son,’ and incidentally the best
crap shooter in the place, made Janie sing and glitter all over at last,
is a little epic all by itself. Indeed, from first to last this is a well nigh
perfect story—a little sententious at the start, but the rest is simple and
beautiful and shining with humor.” (Lucille Tompkins, The New York
Times Book Review, September 26, 1937)
6. On separate paper, craft three or four interpretive and universal
questions about the previous four critical interpretations. You will
then use these questions in a Socratic seminar with your peers.
Writing Prompt: Choose one of the excerpts from the critical reviews
presented and defend, challenge, or qualify it, being sure to weave in
quotes from the novel for support.
330 SpringBoard® English Textual Power™ Level 6
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
finally the black people and the white people before it, and How Tea
Oprah Winfrey Presents…
Activity
4.12
SUGGESTED Learning Strategies: Skimming/Scanning, Notetaking,
Think-Pair-Share, Group Discussion
Filmmakers who adapt a novel face the challenge of conveying their
interpretation of the major themes of the work. A close examination
of the film adaptation of Their Eyes Were Watching God offers you the
opportunity to critique a media production of Hurston’s novel. You
will watch the last approximately 28 minutes of the film, taking notes
about what the filmmakers chose to add, to alter, and to delete, and the
effects of these choices.
1. First, refresh your memory by scanning Chapter 14, when Janie and
Tea Cake arrive on the muck, to the end of the novel. Using the My
Notes space, make a list of the major elements and scenes found here
that are essential to getting across the major themes of the novel.
2. What do you know about Oprah Winfrey, the producer of this film?
List the accomplishments she would have on her résumé.
Academic VocaBulary
A résumé is a document that
presents a person’s skills,
education, and work history
and experience.
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
3. Using your list from question 1, what do you predict Oprah will focus
on in this film adaptation of Their Eyes Were Watching God?
4. As you watch the last part of the film, use the graphic organizer on
the next page to take notes on what the filmmakers chose to add,
alter, and delete. Most importantly, think about the effects of these
choices.
Unit 4 • An American Journey 331
Activity 4.12
continued
Oprah Winfrey Presents…
• What do film techniques add to the text? Consider
visual images, camera angles and movement,
framing, music, lighting, diegetic and nondiegetic
sound, and so on.
What is the effect of these additions?
Add
• What do the actors add to characterization?
• Are any plotlines added?
• What elements and scenes from the book are present
but altered? In what ways?
What is the effect of these
alterations?
Delete
• What did the filmmakers leave out?
332 SpringBoard® English Textual Power™ Level 6
What is the effect of these deletions?
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
Alter
• Which scenes in the film present a mood that differs
from the mood in the parallel scene from the novel? In
what ways?
Activity 4.12
continued
Revisiting and Revising Your Writing
5. Over the course of this unit, you have drafted several short pieces of
writing. You have also studied Zora Neale Hurston’s style extensively.
Choose a piece of your own work and revise it, making deliberate
stylistic choices. You might consider the following:
•Infuse figurative language.
• Consider whether the diction you use is consistent with your
audience and purpose.
• Experiment with different kinds of diction.
• Focus on syntax by varying your sentence patterns and kinds of
sentences.
• Change the structural or organizational pattern.
• Employ a different point of view or narrative voice.
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
6. In a writing group, share your revision, explain your stylistic choices,
and get feedback on your work from your peers.
Unit 4 • An American Journey 333
Embedded
Assessment 1
Writing an Analytical Essay
SUGGESTED LEARNING STRATEGIES: Drafting, Generating
Questions, Self-Editing/Peer Editing
Assignment
Write an analytical essay in which you discuss how a key theme in Their Eyes
Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is expressed through her style and
use of literary elements.
Steps
1. During your reading you have studied the literary elements and traced
several aspects of style in Their Eyes Were Watching God.
2. Based on your class discussions and notes, identify a theme of the novel
that you think is significant.
3. Examine the effect of Hurston’s style and use of literary elements on a
theme in her novel.
4. Create a thesis statement that captures your thinking. Then, use a
prewriting strategy to create an organizational plan for your essay.
Consider the order of your topics and the details and examples you can
include to support each topic.
5. Draft your essay. If you want, you might consult with your peers when
necessary.
6. Read your essay carefully, looking closely at the stylistic choices you
made in your initial draft. Revise your essay to reflect deliberate stylistic
choices.
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
7. Edit your essay, using available resources to prepare your work for
publication.
334 SpringBoard® English Textual Power™ Level 6
Embedded
Assessment 1
continued
Scorin g Gui de
Scoring
Criteria
Ideas
Exemplary
A thorough and perceptive
understanding of the novel
and prompt creates an
extraordinarily convincing
text.
The analysis demonstrates
an exceptional insight
on the effect of elements
of style and/or literary
elements on theme.
Proficient
Emerging
A solid understanding of the
novel and prompt creates an
convincing text.
A superficial understanding
of the novel and prompt
creates an underdeveloped
text.
The analysis demonstrates
a general understanding
of the effect of elements
of style and/or literary
elements on theme.
Use of appropriate examples
supports the position.
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
Use of specific and wellchosen examples yields
detailed support for the
analysis.
The essay attempts to
analyze the effect of
elements of style and/or
literary elements on theme,
but it may be simplistic or
replaced by summary.
Evidence to support the
position may be weak or too
few examples are used.
Organization
Organization is exceptional.
Ideas move smoothly and
comfortably with effective
use of transitions enhancing
the essay’s coherence.
Organization is clear and
easy to follow. Transitions
are used to move between
ideas.
The essay is difficult to
follow. It may jump too
rapidly between ideas and
lack transitions.
Use of
Language
Stylistic choices in language
are exceptional.
Stylistic choices in language
are clear and appropriate.
Stylistic choices in language
are less mature.
The writer successfully
weaves textual evidence
from the novel into
his/her own prose and
demonstrates strong control
and mastery of standard
writing conventions.
The writer weaves textual
evidence from the novel into
his/her own prose accurately.
At times, the writer attempts
to incorporate textual
evidence from the novel into
his/her own prose yet may do
so awkwardly or inaccurately.
The essay demonstrates
thoughtful planning,
significant revision, and
careful editing for grammar
and conventions in preparing
a publishable draft.
The essay demonstrates
adequate planning, revision,
and editing for grammar and
conventions in preparing a
publishable draft.
Evidence of
the Writing
Process
The writer demonstrates
control of standard writing
conventions. Though some
errors may appear, they
do not seriously impede
readability.
There are frequent errors
in standard writing
conventions that interfere
with the meaning
The essay lacks evidence of
planning, revision, and/or
editing for grammar and
conventions. The draft is not
ready for publication.
Unit 4 • An American Journey 335
Embedded
Assessment 1
Writing an Analytical Essay
continued
Scorin g Gui de
Scoring
Criteria
Exemplary
Proficient
Emerging
Additional
Criteria
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
Comments:
336 SpringBoard® English Textual Power™ Level 6
Learning Focus:
Communicating Myself to Others
“Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom.”
— Tao Lzu
One of the important goals of academic growth is to help you be more
knowledgeable about what and how you learn, and how you use that
knowledge to make future plans for academic study and beyond. As the
end of school approaches, it is important for you to consider your goals for
after high school and to create plans for achieving your goals. These goals
will ultimately include the career of your choice and how you plan for that
career. Effective self-presentation can be critical to attaining both career and
personal goals.
You present yourself every day—in face-to-face situations as well as via
media such as the Internet. You joke with others, you tell stories, you try to
impress others. You also try to understand yourself: your talents, strengths,
weaknesses, challenges, interests, skills. Understanding yourself and your
motivations are keys to personal growth and to effective social, academic,
and career interactions.
The ability to speak and communicate effectively is often listed by employers
as a requirement for high-growth, high-performance jobs. Learning to
communicate well and present yourself is a part of academic preparation. To
succeed in self-presentation, you need to evaluate modes of communication,
such as verbal, nonverbal, and written, and choose among them based on
your communication purposes.
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
You can more effectively communicate yourself by focusing on your purpose,
message, audience, context, and feedback from others. You are expected
to present yourself in one-on-one situations, as well as in group situations.
Learning good communication skills prepares you to be more comfortable
and effective as a speaker, listener, and communicator.
Unit 4 • An American Journey 337
Activity
4.13
My Communication Skills
SUGGESTED Learning Strategies: Brainstorming, Graphic Organizer
1. Communication and self-expression are key elements in Zora Neale
Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God. What are the ways that you
try to communicate your voice and sense of self to others?
3. On separate paper, create a checklist for being a good communicator
in the categories you have identified.
4. What are your initial thoughts about one of the essential questions of
this unit: How do communication skills enhance self-expression?
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2. In this class, you have had a number of opportunities to communicate
in various ways. Review the work in your portfolio to help you
brainstorm a list of occasions and purposes for your communications.
Categorize the ways in which you have communicated.
Activity
Career Search
4.14
SUGGESTED Learning Strategies: KWHL Chart, Discussion Groups,
Graphic Organizer, Generating Questions
1. List two or three careers you think you might want to pursue.
2. Use KWHL to determine what you already know and what you need to
know about these careers. Use the questions on the next page to help
you investigate possible careers.
What I Know
How I might learn
(research questions)
(useful sources)
What I Learned
(Is this career for
me?)
Career 2
Career 3
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
Career 1
(activating prior
knowledge)
Want to Learn
Unit 4 • An American Journey 339
Activity 4.14
continued
Career Search
3. Some questions you may want to investigate include:
• What are the characteristics of this career that interest you?
• What specific skills and abilities are needed to succeed in this
career?
• What are the physical requirements, if any, of the career?
• What are the opportunities for advancement?
• What are the educational requirements for the career?
• Where can a person acquire these educational qualifications?
•Is this career continuing to expand or is it in decline?
• How long does the average person stay in this career?
4. Write your goals for each step of the career pathway below and then
add notes in response to the following questions:
• How do you picture yourself in 10 years? Are you successful?
Where are you living?
•Is there any training or education that you will need in order to
reach each step of your career pathway?
• What skills do you already possess to help you achieve your
goals?
Twenty years?
Ten years?
Four years?
In one year?
Where will you be in six months?
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• What people do you know who will help you on your career pathway?
Activity 4.14
continued
5. You will discuss how interviews are conducted. Use the space below
to take notes.
6. Your teacher will pair you with another student. Your task will be to
introduce each other to small groups.
7. As you observe each introduction, take notes about what you notice
in the graphic organizer below.
Verbal Communication
Includes words, pitch, tone, volume
Other:
Nonverbal Communication
Includes movement, gestures, facial
expressions, eye contact, spatial relations
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
Other:
8. In the previous activity, you critiqued your own communication skills.
You should now look for alignment between your communication
strengths and weaknesses and the demands of the possible career
you have chosen. What communication skills do you need to develop
and how can you do this? On separate paper, list your goals for
developing needed communication skills and an action plan for
achieving them.
Unit 4 • An American Journey 341
Activity
4.15
Creating a Résumé
SUGGESTED Learning Strategies: Drafting, Checklist, Sharing And
Responding, Peer Editing
1. What is a résumé? What is it used for?
2. Advice for creating a successful résumé is plentiful. Locate three Web
sites or other resources (such as career advice books) that provide
directions or advice for writing a résumé. List the sources below.
4. You have considered how your communication strengths align with
requirements of your chosen field. Now brainstorm your experiences
that may have helped to prepare you for your chosen field. Think
about skills and abilities; your accomplishments; your activities,
including volunteer work; your education, including classes you have
taken/are taking and books you have read, and so on. You may want
to write this information on separate paper to help you prepare for
creating your own résumé.
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3. Evaluate the sources and make a list of the most useful advice, using
only what you have found to be valid sources. This advice will become
a checklist for helping you edit your résumé. Write down at least six
tips below.
Activity 4.15
continued
5. As you draft a résumé, consider these questions: What do I want
to say about myself? What rhetoric can I use to “sell myself” to a
prospective employer? One way to think about how to sell yourself is
to develop a short summary about yourself that gives the highlights
of your skills, experience, education, and personality. Try writing a
three sentence summary in the space below. Be sure to use diction
and tone that align with your purposes.
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
6. Many models are available to help you organize your résumé.
Examine several résumé models, or templates, either through online
resources or in career books. Choose a model and draft your résumé
on separate paper or using a word processing program.
7. Revise your résumé, using the editor’s checklist, and then show your
résumé to someone outside the classroom and ask him or her to write
a brief response to your work.
Unit 4 • An American Journey 343
Activity
4.16
Social Networking
SUGGESTED Learning Strategies: Quickwrite, Brainstorming, Group
Discussion
Understanding Social Networking Web sites
Quickwrite: Draft a quickwrite about social networking Web sites.
Some things to consider: What purpose do they serve? Who uses them?
What can you find out about someone by looking at his or her page?
What experiences have you had, good and bad, with sites like this?
1. Create and administer a survey about what impression your peers
want to send when they customize their personal web pages and
what they do to get that impression across. Share your findings with
the class.
2. Three articles dealing with social networking sites follow. As you read
these articles, consider how the information and ideas in them affect
your understanding of social networking sites. As you read, keep the
following questions in mind:
• Who are some of the audiences who read these sites?
• What are some of the standard features of a social networking page.
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• What content is appropriate to put on a social networking site?
Article
Activity 4.16
continued
Narcissism on the Internet isn’t risk-free
by Eric Gwinn
My Notes
A new study argues that self-absorption in college students is at a new
high.
“Young people born after 1982 are the most narcissistic generation in
recent history,” said Jean Twenge, a San Diego State University professor and
lead author of the study of college students’ attitudes about themselves.
That narcissism is helping to create a generation of Internet users who
don’t think twice about putting private details online for the world to see.
Blogs and social networking Web sites — such as MySpace and YouTube,
where members write and post images and video about their lives and
interests - are playing a big role.
“Current technology fuels the increase in narcissism,” Twenge said in a
statement. “By its very name, MySpace encourages attention-seeking, as does
YouTube, whose slogan is ‘Broadcast Yourself.’”
The authors of the study – which has tracked college students’ attitudes
about themselves yearly since 1982 – are not talking about pathological
narcissistic personality disorder; just an attitude of “It’s all about me.”
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
“People our age really want to explore themselves and see how they
compare to other people by posting up Web site profiles,” says Patrick
Fishbach, a student at Loyola University Chicago.
This generation is rapidly undergoing a bumpy transformation from
being merely watchers of content to creators of content. They’ve learned the
visual language of ads and TV shows but aren’t remembering to target their
messages.
“They’re good at being an audience, but not at being the center of
attention,” says Nancy Baym, associate professor of communication studies
at the University of Kansas. “They’re thinking about, ‘Who am I and how can
I show myself to the world?’ They’re not thinking about parents, teachers,
employers and all these other people who can see this.”
Much like the cell phone talker who has loud private conversations in
public, some users forget that their friends aren’t the only ones who get the
message.
Word
Connections
Audience comes from the
Latin root audire meaning
“to hear.” From the same
root come audio, audition,
audible, and audit.
“I have had friends who have written on their personal blogs about how
much they hate their roommate,” says Loyola student Dave Frantz, “and then
act surprised when the roommate confronts them after having found the blog.”
Social networks help young adults quickly keep tabs on friends.
It’s quicker to visit online profiles to see pictures and read short notes
documenting last night’s party than it is to talk about it over the phone. In
the time it takes to have one phone conversation, you can flit among friends’
Unit 4 • An American Journey 345
Activity 4.16
continued
My Notes
Social Networking
profiles to read what they’re doing and to leave notes of approval - and
read notes they left for you on your profile.
“If you told someone, ‘Call your 30 best friends today,’ they wouldn’t
do it,” says Kent Lindstrom, of the pioneering social networking site
Friendster. “But they will use social networking to check in with 30
friends.”
Besides thinking only their friends will see their posts, many social
network users feel they’re a small fish in an enormous pond, virtually
invisible to anyone who might want to harm them.
“Some of them think, ‘Who would be really that interested in my
life? There are 6 million Sarahs out there. Who would pick me out of the
pile?’” says Amanda Lenhart, who studies social networking for the Pew
Internet & American Life Project. “It’s about putting yourself out there for
your friends.”
“It’s an obvious concept now, but it wasn’t always,” Lindstrom says.
“It’s similar to instant messaging or e-mail or search engines – there was
a point where it didn’t exist, and then when it came, you couldn’t live
without it.”
“Having a blog or being part of a social network site doesn’t increase
risk,” says David Finkelhor, a professor at the University of New Hampshire
who has been tracking teens’ online exposure to unwanted adult content.
“Get filtering and blocking software, and be judicious about whom you talk
to and the topics they raise.”
“We should start thinking of ourselves as brands and control our
message,” Baym says. “That’s what we’re doing when we put ourselves out
there. People don’t have a sense of their identity as something they have
property rights to.”
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Experts suggest all Internet users take a page from Apple and other
large companies, and manage and protect their identities: Don’t log into
your profile at a public computer (you can leave behind your password for
others to discover); let only people you know view your profile; and when
you get an invite from someone you don’t know, find out as much as you
can about that person before accepting the invite.
Article
Activity 4.16
continued
Web of Risks
tudents adore social-networking sites like Facebook,
S
but indiscreet postings can mean really big trouble.
My Notes
by Brad Stone with Robbie Brown
Cameron Walker learned the hard way that sharing information online
can have unintended consequences. In 2005, the sophomore at Fisher College
in Boston organized a student petition dedicated to getting a campus guard
fired and posted it on the popular college social network Facebook.com.
Walker wrote that the guard “loves to antagonize students ... and needs to
be eliminated.” It was a poor choice of words. Another student informed
school officials, who logged on and interpreted the comments as threatening.
Though Walker claimed he was trying only to expose the guard’s demeanor,
he was expelled. He’s now enrolled at another college and admits he made a
serious mistake. “I was a naive 21-year-old,” he says.
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
Creating a page on a social-networking site is now a cherished form of
self-expression at universities around the world. Students use ad-supported
services like Facebook, MySpace, TagWorld and Bebo to make friends, plan
their social lives and project their personalities. The most popular site among
college students is Facebook, with more than 8 million members. A student’s
personal Facebook page is usually a revealing, dynamic chronicle of campus
life—one clearly not meant for the eyes of parents, teachers or anyone else
older than 25.
Word
Connections
Illusion comes from the
Latin root ludere meaning
“to play.” Other words
that come from the same
root are ludicrous, delude,
allude, prelude, collusion.
But adults are taking notice. Sites like Facebook are accessible to
nearly anyone willing to spend the time to gain access: teachers, school
administrators, even potential employers and the police. Such online services
can create the illusion of privacy where none actually exists. Facebook, in
particular, was designed to emphasize privacy and intimacy. Only other
users at your school (with the same college e-mail domain name), and those
in networks you join, can see your home page. But determined off-campus
visitors can persuade a student or alumnus to help them access the student’s
page.
What happens when the identity you reveal to friends suddenly
overwhelms the façade you present to grown-ups? The results can be
awkward—or worse. Photos from drunken parties, recollections of sexual
escapades, profanity or threats—all these indiscretions, posted online, have
gotten students suspended or expelled, or harmed job prospects. In a couple
of decades, a presidential candidate may be called on to answer for a college
misadventure that he or she impetuously detailed in a blog entry.
Harvard student Marc Zuckerberg and a few classmates designed
Facebook in 2003 to facilitate contact among students. After it launched in
early 2004, the service spread like the flu in a freshman dorm, first at Harvard
and then to all 2,100 four-year colleges. Last year the company opened its
Unit 4 • An American Journey 347
Activity 4.16
continued
My Notes
Social Networking
digital doors to high schoolers. Early on, Zuckerberg left college and moved
his fledgling enterprise to Silicon Valley, raising more than $35 million in
venture capital. Facebook now has 100 employees and is supported by big
advertisers like Apple and MasterCard.
Facebook’s founders worried about privacy. That’s why it isn’t one big
network but a series of connected smaller ones. “We decided early on that
you get better information flow and more trust if you limit access to just
those around you,” says Zuckerberg. Besides restricting access to a student’s
classmates, Facebook offers extra privacy tools. Students can limit parts
of their pages, such as photos, to specific people. Still, just 17 percent of
customers ever change those privacy settings.
But not everyone’s Facebook experiences have been positive. Brad
Davis was a freshman at Emory in Atlanta in 2005 when he and friends
commemorated a night of drinking by posting photos of themselves in their
dorm, hoisting their libations. They created a Facebook group called the
Dobbs 2nd Floor Alcoholics, named after their dorm. A dorm adviser saw the
photos and reported the underage imbibers. The school ordered Davis and his
friends to hang anti-drinking posters on their walls, and a citation went on
their records.
The consequences for Jason Johnson were more serious. He was a
student at the University of the Cumberlands, a Southern Baptist school
in Williamsburg, Ky., when he created his own MySpace page. Visitors to
his page could hear a favorite song, learn his birthday or find out he was
gay. But Cumberlands’ student handbook states that students must lead a
“Christian life-style,” which the school president explained included a ban
on homosexuality. When school officials discovered Johnson’s page, he was
expelled. He hired a lawyer, who got the school to rescind the expulsion and
let Johnson transfer with his academic record intact.
Students’ indiscriminate postings may also get them into trouble when
they’re applying for a job or to graduate school. The postings could still
be accessible online despite students’ efforts to delete them. Even though
companies are loath to admit it, researching candidates on social networks is
becoming as easy and prevalent as entering their names into Google. Laurie
Sybel, a director of career development at Vermont Technical College, had
never looked at Facebook until she got a call from a big company about the
internship application of a 19-year-old. The student was being rejected, Sybel
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For many students, Facebook is not only an interactive diary and
yearbook, but a pervasive way to stay in touch. Mitchell Perley, an Atlantaborn student at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, is typical. On his
page there’s a photo with a friend at Disneyland, mentions of his membership
in such Facebook groups as the Krispy Kreme Appreciation Society and
listings of his favorite musicians and films. Perhaps most important, his page
is linked to the pages of 99 friends at his college and 845 back home at various
U.S. schools.
Activity 4.16
continued
&
recalls, because executives had viewed the student’s Facebook page, which
contained a photo of him holding a bottle of vodka. The company noted that
the student was not only apparently breaking the law but demonstrating bad
judgment by publishing the photo. In response, Vermont Technical, like other
colleges, now integrates tips for social-network decorum into its careerguidance workshops.
Grammar Usage
Notice how the writer does
not choose to quote Sybel
directly. Instead Sybel’s
words are summarized,
which allows the writer to
condense a large amount
of information into a
smaller space than relying
on direct quotations from a
source.
Not all students want to temper their behavior. They point out that the
Internet lets them express themselves and find like-minded souls. Still, adults
aren’t likely to stop prying any time soon. That means students who use
Facebook and MySpace have a new burden. The Web may seem ephemeral,
but what you casually post one night might just last a digital eternity. While
social networking represents a powerful tool for today’s students, they’re
advised to be prudent. Even if they have no plans to run for president
someday.
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
My Notes
Unit 4 • An American Journey 349
Activity 4.16
continued
My Notes
Social Networking
Article
Experts: Employers
Monitor Social
Networking Web Sites
by Matt McGowan
LUBBOCK, Texas — The next time a student learns he or she has been
tagged in a photo from the last weekend’s party on www.facebook.com or
www.myspace.com, it may be in his or her best interest to take a look.
With more than 37,000 people on Facebook’s Texas Tech University
network and countless more on MySpace, students clearly are using social
networking sites, but so are their future bosses.
CareerBuilder offers three tips when it comes to personal Web pages, said
Theresa Chu, senior career adviser for the company: be careful, be prepared
and be discreet.
Students can be careful by not posting anything on their own or their
friends’ sites that they would not want an employer to see, she said. They
can be prepared by anticipating any questions employers might have after
investigating their personal pages.
Discreetness, Chu said, comes through closely monitoring who has access
to their online profiles and access to what applicants write on others’ profiles.
“You can control what you put on your site, but you can’t always control
your friends,” she said. “In terms of the comment function or being able to
write on your wall on Facebook, you just want to make sure you’re monitoring
those comments. If you find that it’s getting out of control, completely turn
that function off.”
350 SpringBoard® English Textual Power™ Level 6
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According to a 2006 study conducted by CareerBuilder.com, 12 percent
of hiring managers searched their applicants’ social networking profiles
before hiring them. Of those who checked job candidates’ online network
profiles, 63 percent did not hire an applicant based on what they had found
on those sites.
Activity 4.16
continued
Carol Albert, operations manager at the Eastridge Group, a multi-state
group of staffing companies, said she has been in the hiring business for 16
years and routinely references applicants’ profiles on social networks after an
interview and before hiring them, especially for permanent or professional
positions — positions college students often fill.
My Notes
“For our permanent staff, our professional staff, it’s worth a look,” she
said. “It’s one of the tools, and it’s becoming more and more useful now,
because practically everybody has a MySpace page.”
During 2005, in a study conducted by the National Association of
Colleges and Employers, 11 percent of employers reported referencing an
applicant’s social networking site before hiring him or her, said Andrea
Koncz, employment information manager for the association.
In a similar study conducted by the association in 2007, the number rose
to 17 percent.
David Kraus, managing director of the Tech Career Service, said
employers are turning to social networking sites more and more to take a
closer look at job candidates, a trend that has and will continue to grow.
Because networking sites like Facebook and MySpace have become more
popular in recent years, Kraus said, employers have caught wind and are
utilizing their potential for background checks.
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
“Five years from now, or one year from now, who’s to say there won’t be
something else that replaces that?” Kraus asked. “I don’t know what it’ll be,
and it might take employers a few years to latch on to that, too.”
When it comes to the content of social network profiles, Jay Killough,
employer relations coordinator for the university’s career service, said
common sense and good judgment often are good indicators of where to
draw the line between acceptable and scandalous. He recommends not post
anything “your grandmother wouldn’t approve of.”. . .
Unit 4 • An American Journey 351
Activity 4.16
continued
Social Networking
Building a Rubric to Evaluate Social Networking Pages Work with
your Embedded Assessment discussion group and create norms for
appropriate self-presentation on a social networking page, based on
what your group has learned about these sites and their potential
audiences. Build consensus about what content should and should not
appear on a page.
3. Next, collaborate to create a rubric for evaluating a page in terms of
its appropriateness for audiences discussed in the articles. Choose
three or more labels to define the levels. These will go across the top
of the rubric.
4. With your group, list the standard features of a social networking
page. Add these to your rubric down the left side of the rubric.
5. Take a critical look at a page, considering visual appeal, and add
descriptions for visual appeal to your rubric.
6. Fill in the rubric with short descriptions that clearly define criteria in
each level for each feature.
7. As a group, create a social networking page for one of the characters
in Their Eyes Were Watching God.
8. Try using your rubric to evaluate a page. Revise your rubric if needed.
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
Use this rubric to guide the creation of your page that you will be
sharing as part of Embedded Assessment 2. Your page can be a real
page that you print to show your classmates or it can be a mock-up of
a page.
352 SpringBoard® English Textual Power™ Level 6
Practicing for a Job Interview
Activity
4.17
SUGGESTED Learning Strategies: Brainstorming, Discussion
Groups, Notetaking, Revising, Role Playing
An interview can be stressful for both the interviewer and the
interviewee, but practicing can alleviate some of the anxiety. Your
teacher will form you into groups to complete the following activities:
1. Study a sample résumé, and brainstorm questions that would help
you learn more about the person who created the résumé. Take notes
on separate paper.
2. Now combine with another group for sharing and responding about
the questions generated. Discuss what makes a good interview
question, making a list of the qualities of good questions that you will
use when you interview a classmate. Add the list to your notes.
3. In your original groups, revise your interview questions to reflect the
guidelines your group agreed upon.
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
4. Now that you have practiced creating a résumé and have looked
at a résumé from the viewpoint of an interviewer, how has your
understanding of what a résumé is and what it can do been
expanded?
5. Thinking from the perspective of another person is an important
communication skill. Re-read your interview questions from the
point of view of an interviewee. How would you answer each
question? Take notes to capture your thinking about how you
would present yourself as you answer the questions.
6. Tone and diction are both important in an interview situation.
Decide what tone you want to convey and how you might do that.
What kind of diction would be appropriate in an interview situation?
Unit 4 • An American Journey 353
Activity 4.17
continued
Practicing for a Job Interview
You will role play a panel interview, using the questions your group
generated. You should rotate roles, so that everyone gets a chance to
interview and to be interviewed. You will use the fishbowl strategy so
that students in the outer circle can provide feedback. When you are
in the outer circle, you will observe one person involved in the role
play. Take specific notes about all aspects of communication that you
observe during the interview. Create a graphic organizer for notetaking;
you might use the following format or develop one of your own.
I am observing:
Verbal
Responses
I Heard
My
Thoughts
Nonverbal
Behaviors
I
Observed
My
Thoughts
2. After the role play and feedback on your interview, take a moment
to reflect on the experience. Think about what you have learned and
how this learning will affect your work for Embedded Assessment 2.
Write your answer in the space below.
3. Work with your group to set norms for the panel interview for
Embedded Assessment 2 so that the experience will be a positive
one for everyone involved. Make sure that everyone in the group
has a copy of the norms.
354 SpringBoard® English Textual Power™ Level 6
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Role (circle one): InterviewerInterviewee
Embedded
Assessment 2
Using Communication Skills
to Present Myself
SUGGESTED Learning Strategies: Drafting, Self-Editing/
Peer Editing, Discussion Groups
Assignment
Your assignment is to showcase the communication skills that you have
developed in an interview with a panel of your peers in which you present
your résumé and your media presentation about yourself.
Steps
1. Consider how you want to present yourself in the panel interview. For
example, which of your strengths do you want to make sure they notice?
Create a plan for your self-presentation.
2. Create a résumé and revise it using the résumé checklist that your class
generated.
3. Create a media presentation about yourself in the form of a social
networking page and revise it based on the rubric your class agreed
upon.
4. Within your Embedded Assessment group, assign roles for the interview
panel process. In each round, the roles include interviewee, at least two
interviewers, and at least two observers. Set a schedule for interviews
within the deadlines set by your teacher.
5. Share your résumé and media presentation drafts with the members of
your group who will be interviewing you.
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
6. When you receive the résumé(s) and media presentation(s) of the group
member(s) you will be interviewing, work with your partner(s) to write
interview questions.
7. Complete the interview process. After each interview, every group
member should write a reflection about the role they played: interviewer,
interviewee, or observer.
Unit 4 • An American Journey 355
Embedded
Assessment 2
continued
Using Communication Skills
to Present Myself
Sc orin g G uide
Exemplary
Proficient
Emerging
Résumé
The content and
organization of the résumé
thoroughly showcase the
individual’s strengths and
skills. The tone and diction
are positive and direct. The
format follows standard
résumé conventions. The
overall impression of the
résumé conveys a highly
positive picture of the
individual.
The content and
organization of the résumé
provide accurate details
about the individual’s
background and experience.
It demonstrates an
understanding of standard
résumé conventions. The
overall impression of the
résumé is adequate, but not
highly persuasive about the
individual.
The content and
organization of the résumé
are unclear or disorganized
at times in a way that
distracts from showcasing
the individual. There are
frequent errors in standard
conventions. There is little
or no evidence that the
résumé has undergone
revisions to sell the
individual’s details.
Media
Presentation
The media presentation is
engaging, well-organized,
and effectively addresses
the intended audience.
Information is skillfully
communicated.
The media presentation is
interesting and accurately
addresses the intended
audience. Information is
clearly communicated.
The media presentation
is confusing at times and
does little to addresses
the intended audience.
Information is difficult to
follow.
Process
Throughout the entire
process of planning and
presenting, the group
cooperates and works
successfully to maintain
purpose and to achieve
goals.
Throughout the process of
planning and presenting,
the group cooperates and
works together adequately.
Throughout the process of
planning and presenting,
the groups’ cooperation is
lacking and impedes their
ability to maintain a purpose
or achieve goals.
Reflection
The reflective text
perceptively and thoroughly
analyzes each group
member’s participation
and learning from the
perspective each role:
interviewer, interviewee,
and observer.
The reflective text clearly
and adequately analyzes
participation and learning
from the perspective
each role: interviewer,
interviewee, and observer.
The reflective text fails
to sufficiently analyze
participation and learning
from the perspective
each role: interviewer,
interviewee, and observer.
356 SpringBoard® English Textual Power™ Level 6
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
Scoring
Criteria
Embedded
Assessment 2
continued
S corin g G ui de
Scoring
Criteria
Exemplary
Proficient
Emerging
Additional
Criteria
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
Comments:
Unit 4 • An American Journey 357
Unit
4
Reflection
An important aspect of growing as a learner is to reflect on where you have
been, what you have accomplished, what helped you to learn, and how you
will apply your new knowledge in the future. Use the following questions to
guide your thinking and to identify evidence of your learning. Use separate
notebook paper.
Thinking about Concepts
1. Using specific examples from your unit, respond to the Essential
Questions:
• How can an author’s style construct and reflect a character’s identity?
• How do communication skills enhance self-expression?
2. Consider the new academic vocabulary from this unit (Motif, Résumé) as
well as academic vocabulary from previous units and select 3–4 terms
of which your understanding has grown. For each term, answer the
following questions:
• What was your understanding of the word prior to the unit?
• How has your understanding of the word evolved throughout the unit?
• How will you apply your understanding in the future?
Thinking about Connections
3. Review the activities and products (artifacts) you created. Choose those
that most reflect your growth or increase in understanding.
4. For each artifact that you choose, record, respond, and reflect on your
thinking and understanding, using the following questions as a guide:
b. How did your understanding of the power of language expand through
your engagement with this artifact?
c. How will you apply this skill or knowledge in the future?
5. Create this reflection as Portfolio pages—one for each artifact you
choose. Use the following model for your headings and commentary
on questions.
Thinking About Thinking
Portfolio Entry
Concept:
Description of Artifact:
Commentary on Questions:
358 SpringBoard® English Textual Power™ Level 6
© 2010 College Board. All rights reserved.
a. What skill/knowledge does this artifact reflect, and how did you learn
this skill/knowledge?

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