Unit 5 - Cultural Identity

Week 5

Monday

Listening

Getting Ready

Discuss the following questions with a partner.

1. What do you understand by the terms “Legal Alien / Illegal Alien”?

2. When asked what ethnic or racial group you belong to, on a form, for example, how do you feel? How do you respond? Do you feel that there is an ethnic or racial label that accurately identifies you?

3. You are going to hear a poem called “Legal Alien.” What do you think the title means? Is it about an extraterrestrial that comes down from outer space with the proper documents? Is it about someone who legally immigrated to a new country? Is it about someone born to immigrant parents in a new country?

Think as you listen.

As you listen to the poem, think about these questions:

1. What is the tone of the poem? Serious? Sarcastic? Humourous? Frustrated? Sad?

2. What images do you see as you listen?

What do you think?

1. How did the poem make you feel?

2. What did you think of the poem?

3. Describe any images you saw as you listened to the poem.

What does it mean?

Now read the poem “Legal Alien” on page 3. With a partner, discuss the following questions.

1. What do you think the title of the poem means? Was this what you thought before you heard/read it?

2. What does “bi-cultural” mean in this poem?

3. How does the speaker identify herself/himself? Is he/she comfortable with this identity?

4. What does the speaker mean by “American but hyphenated” in line 8? What does he/she mean by “a handy token” in line 16?

5. The writer uses a few adjective + noun phrases in the poem: “paneled office”, “smooth English”, “fluent Spanish”. Why did she choose these adjectives? What images do these phrases bring to mind?

6. Does the poem relate to your life in any way? Perhaps you or someone you know lives a “hyphenated” existence, caught between two groups but not really belonging to either one.

Language Awareness

• Prefixes

- Locate the words with prefixes in the poem. What do these prefixes mean?

- These words are not generally hyphenated in English. Why do you think the writer hyphenates them in this poem?

• Sentence structure

- The writer uses only one complete sentence in this poem, but does not punctuate it. Find the complete sentence.

- Why do you think the writer uses phrases and sentence fragments throughout the rest of the poem? What tone is established in this way? What other effects does this use of phrases and fragments have?

§ 100 most frequent words in English (based on the British National Corpus) :

(from “Nature” by Scott Thornbury)

By

· Underline ‘by’ in the poem. Identify their meaning according to the description below.

[preposition]

1. near or beside, movement past (a place): They sat by the fire. / I drove by the new hotel.
2. on or before (a time): I have to be home by 11 o’clock.
3. to say who or what did something, or how: Has he read anything by Janet Frame?
4. [adverb] near, past: I heard a train go by.

· Here are some lines with by. Can you identify the Grammar pattern in each case according to the patterns 1-6 below?

1. It would heal quickly by itself.
2. My brother was murdered by poison.
3. My father tried to stop her by standing in her way.
4. Holmes will hastily travel there by cab.
5. By the time the demo was over, I was really nervous.
6. I solved this problem by connecting the printer.
7. These changes are influence by human actions.
8. She loved to walk by herself.
9. All work should be completed by February.
10. We will show our thanks by sending you a free copy.
11. He must have ordered then by telephone.
12. By seven o’clock he was ready to walk the dog.
13. They are out of date by the time they appear.
14. Don Quixote was written by Cervantes in 1605.

Grammar Patterns

1. by + -ing By reading a lot, you can improve your vocabulary.
2. by + NY Please send the documents by e-mail.

(to say how people travel, communicate or how things are processed)

By chance, she ran into Marcel in the bank.

(to say whether an event is planned or not)

3. am/is/was etc. + past participle + by + NP

Jessica was bitten by a dog.

4. by + himself/herself/themselves etc.

The train goes by itself. (without help)

He was sitting by himself (alone)

5. by + time adverbial

The photos will be ready by Friday.

6. by the time + clause, + clause

By the time we arrived, the restaurant was closed.

· Put the words in the box into four groups, so that the words in each group all complete one of these sentences.

Please send it by ……….

They sell them by ………

She became an actor by ……..

Can I pay by ………?

air credit card the dozen accident

cash the kilo bank draft luck

sea the box road choice

rail cheque/check necessity the pound

· Choose the best preposition (by, at, on or in) to complete these sentences:

1. Phone me __________ seven and not before.
2. Can you dry-clean this suit ______________ Friday at the latest?
3. ___________ this time next week, I will have finished my exams.
4. The bus usually arrives ________eleven but today it was late.
5. Try to be at the station ________ six, because the train leaves _____ six sharp.
6. My parents are arriving _______ Friday afternoon.
7. _______ 2050 the population of Caracas will have doubled.
8. They finish work ______ five and ______five-thirty they’ve usually all left.
9. My driver’s license expires _______ 2015.
10. This book is due back at the library ______ 12^th June.

More on ‘by’ – Collocations

· followed by nouns

transport: by car, by bike

communications: by mail

· occurs with verbs of movement

We watched the soldiers march by. / Time flew by. / A mysterious figure passed by the window.

· forms some phrasal verbs

If you get by, you manager to live with minimal resources.

(Without a job, how does he get by?)

If you put money by, you save it for later use.

(If I were you I’d put some money by for your retirement.)

Drop by is an informal way of saying visit.

(I’ll drop by and see how you are.)

If you come by something you obtain it.

( How did you come by this first edition of Nineteen Eighty-Four?)

If you stand by or stick by someone, you give them your support.

(‘Stand by your people!’)

· often found after these words: followed, caused, surrounded, surprised, worried, pleased,

impressed

· set phrases

by and large …. (to talk generally about something)

By and large, AIDS is an economic issue.

bit by bit / little by little / step by step etc. … (to say something happens gradually)

Jane’s Spanish is improving bit by bit.

By the way…. ( to introduce a new topic or comment into the conversation)

I’d love to come to dinner. I’m a vegetarian, by the way.

Legal Alien by Pat Mora

Bi-lingual. Bi-cultural, able to slip from “How’s life?” to “Me’stan volviendo loca,” able to sit in a paneled office drafting memos in smooth English, able to order in fluent Spanish at a Mexican restaurant, American but hyphenated, viewed by Anglos as perhaps exotic, perhaps inferior, definitely different, viewed by Mexicans as alien.

(their eyes say, “You may speak Spanish but you’re not like me”) an American to Mexicans a Mexican to Americans a handy token sliding back and forth between the fringes of both worlds by smiling by masking the discomfort of being pre-judged Bi-laterally.

Tuesday

Activity 1 -

Go to the link below and explore different web sites given. Find out which one you can use outside the classroom.

http://www.theteacherscafe.com/Teacher-Directory/Free-Online-TESL-Activities.htm

Activity 2 -

Go to the following link. Choose a topic. Then choose an article under that topic and do the articles that follow.

http://www.cdlponline.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=homepage

Summarize the article and then respond to the article in a paragraph (250 words).

Thursday

Part II - Reading

Getting Ready

Discuss the following questions in groups of two or three:

1. What does the term “illegal alien” mean to you?

2. You are going to read another poem by the same writer as the first poem. This one is entitled “Illegal Alien”? What do you think this poem might be about? Do you think it is related to the first poem?

Think as you listen.

1. What is the tone of the poem?

2. What images do you see as you listen?

What do you think?

1. What did you think of the poem?

2. How did it make you feel?

3. What kind of person do you think the speaker is? Is it the same speaker as in the first poem?

What does it mean?

Now read the poem Illegal Alien at the end of the unit and discuss the following with a partner.

1. What do you think is the relationship of the two women in the poem?

2. How does the writer seem to feel toward Socorro? Why?

3. Why does the speaker call Socorro “my sister”? Do you think that being from the same culture or language background automatically makes two people “sisters” or “brothers”?

4. What does the speaker mean in the last line when she says, “I am the alien here” ? How is she using the term “alien”?

5. Draw a picture or several pictures to illustrate what you see when you read the poem. Explain your pictures to your partner.

Language Awareness

· Giving Advice

In the 4^th stanza of the poem, the speaker gives herself some suggestions. What language does she use to do this? What is the tone of this advice?

What are other typical ways to make suggestions or give advice in English?

· Past and Present Participles

Identify present and past participles in the poem “Illegal Alien” and their form of speech (whether they function as adjective, noun or verb).

Using English

Speaking

▪ Imagine that Socorro comes to you to ask for advice in dealing with her physically abusive husband. Working with a partner, come up with suggestions or advice for Socorro, using some of the expressions/techniques discussed above in the Language Awareness. (If you need ideas, there is a list of some of these expressions on page 6.)

▪ In the poem, we hear what the speaker has to say, but not what Socorro has to say. Working with a partner, write a dialogue between Socorro and the speaker. Perform your dialogue for the class.

Writing

▪ Write a letter from Socorro to the speaker in the poem, telling her how you feel about your life, your husband, your relationship with her – whatever you think is important.

or

§ (from ‘Grammar’ by Scott Thornbury, p. 14)

Prepare a poem ‘rubric’ (i.e. the framework for a poem) that consists solely of parts of speech

Use the format below 1. article + noun 2. participle, participle, participle 3. adjective, adjective 4. repeat 1 5. pronoun+ verb 6. pronoun + verb 7. pronoun + always/never/still + verb 8. repeat 1 9. repeat 3 10. repeat 2

Example The Sea Smiling, frowning, laughing Angry, joyful The sea It comes It goes It never sleeps The sea Angry, joyful Smiling, frowning, laughing

Illegal Alien by Pat Mora

Socorro, you free me to sit in my yellow kitchen waiting for a poem while you scrub and iron. Today you stand before me holding cleanser and sponge and say you can’t sleep at night. “My husband’s fury is a fire. His fist can burn. We don’t fight with words on that side of the Rio Grande.” Your eyes fill. I want to comfort you, but my arms feel heavy, unaccustomed to healing grown-up bodies.

I offer foolish questions when I should hug you hard, when I should dry your eyes, my sister, sister because we are both women, both married, both warmed by Mexican blood. It is not cool words you need but soothing hands. My plastic band-aid doesn’t fit your hurt. I am the alien here.

Language Notes

Giving Advice in English

Strong: Must/have to/have got to/had better

You had better finish that memo by close of business today.

Medium: Should/ought to

You ought to use an alarm clock so you don’t miss your appointment.

Soft: Could/might

Why don’t you…

Have you thought about…?

Have you tried…?

You might want to talk to a counselor about your situation.

Have you thought about working half time for the next few months?

Softeners

Perhaps To be honest Well

Maybe Frankly If I can speak frankly

Using English 2

Read the following article by Richard Rodriguez. Answer the questions following.

A CULTURAL IDENTITY June 18, 1997 The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer Transcript http://www.pbs.org/newshour/essays/june97/rodriguez_6-18.html Essayist Richard Rodriguez, editor of the Pacific News Service, considers what it means to be Hispanic. In Washington recently the Census Bureau predicted that by the year 2005 Hispanics will replace black Americans as our nation's largest minority. 2050 one quarter of all Americans will be Hispanic. The only question I have is this: Do Hispanics exist? 24 million Americans of Hispanic origin. There are around 24 million Americans who trace their heritage to various countries of Latin America. We call them Hispanics. But I meet Hispanics all the time who reject the label. If they speak of themselves by reference to their ancestral past, they speak of themselves as Bolivians or Puerto Ricans or Colombians or Mexicans. It was Richard Nixon's administration that came up with the notion of the Hispanic. In 1973, federal bureaucrats divided the nation's population into five: Native American/Eskimo; Asian/Pacific Islander; White; Black; Hispanic. Nearly 25 years later we see and use the word "Hispanic" routinely. I say I am Hispanic. I tell you I am standing on a rundown corner of downtown Los Angeles, the largest Hispanic city in the United States, and look, look at the Hispanic faces. But what do you look for when you expect to see a Hispanic face? In fact, there is no such thing as a Hispanic race. Every race of the world exists in Latin America. There are Japanese Hispanics. There are African Hispanics. There are blond Hispanics. It's true a real competition is taking place today between Hispanics and Blacks in LA, a competition for dollars, for housing, for jobs. The city's black neighborhoods--Watts, South Central, Compton--are becoming Hispanic, filling with immigrants from Latin America. There is new Hispanic influence at city hall. Hispanics recently forced the ouster of Willie Williams, LA's black police chief. On the other hand, immigration officials say that the majority of calls they receive reporting illegal immigrants come from African-Americans. While it's important to acknowledge the friction between Hispanic and Black, it's important also to say that any comparison of Black and Hispanic risks utter nonsense, for Hispanic and Black are not finally comparable categories. Hispanic: A cultural identity. To put the matter bluntly, there are many Hispanics who are Black. Hispanic is an ethnic, a cultural category, not a racial one. Remember that the next time you hear Hispanics compared to Whites or to Blacks. What you are actually hearing is one group of Americans identified by culture being compared to another group of Americans identified by race. Here is the most revolutionary aspect of Hispanicity. I stand here. I tell you I am Hispanic in a country that traditionally insists on racial categories. I define myself not by reference to race or color but by reference to culture. For the moment, because of so much immigration from Latin America it seems easy to believe that there is such a thing as a Hispanic culture. Here on Broadway, amidst the sounds of Spanish, the music, the voices, amidst the brown faces, Hispanic culture seems evident. But as politicians have found, there's no single cultural experience uniting all Hispanics. Dividing the nation into labels. What, after all, does the White Cuban have in common with the Black Puerto Rican? What does the Guatemalan Indian, who arrived today in the United States, have in common with the new Mexican who traces his family back to colonial Spain? Some of us speak Spanish; some do not. Some are Catholic; many are becoming Protestant. It's possible as Hispanic numbers grow that the slipperiness of the label will seem more apparent to Americans and our government's practice of dividing our nation into five neat pieces will seem absurd. In the meanwhile, we go around talking about Asians and Hispanics and Blacks imagining neat distinctions in borders where they may not exist. For the moment, Madonna, the singer/actress, plays Eva Peron from Argentina, while in real life Madonna's baby daughter, Lourdes, is Hispanic, as is Henry Cisneros and Anthony Quinn, and the children of Lucille Ball, and several of the grandchildren of George and Barbara Bush. For the moment, with a growing sense of irony, I check "yes" on the government form. In English, I acknowledge I am Hispanic. I'm Richard Rodriguez. (692)

A. Understanding the reading. Think about your answers to the following questions and discuss them with a partner in class.

1. What is Rodriguez’s purpose in writing this article? What is his main point?

2. What is the tone of the article?

3. Do you find Rodriguez’s arguments convincing? Why or why not?

4. According to Rodriguez, what kind of category is “Hispanic”? What about “Black” or “White”? Do you agree with him?

5. What point is Rodriguez trying to make with the examples he uses in

paragraph 9?

6. Why does Rodriguez check off “Hispanic” on the government form?

7. Why does he end the article with “I’m Richard Rodriguez”?

8. Does this article relate to your life in any way, or to someone you know?

B. With your partner, write up a list of questions you would like to ask and/or comments you would like to make to Richard Rodriguez.

C.

Write a brief summary of Rodriguez’s article. Your summary should be between 150 and 250 words. It should be in your own words and should not contain your opinion – just the ideas of the author.

Writing assignment

· Write an essay (300-500 words) on the following topic. Send a copy to me via e-mail.

What role does ethnicity and identity play in social and political life in your country?

· Present your topic in class next week on Thursday.