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Interactive Workshops Build on Essential Skills for Deeper
Understanding
While students encounter key ideas and develop valuable skills in the opening chapters,
skill-building is a continual process requiring practice. That’s why there are in-depth,
interactive workshops in each readings chapter that introduce students to the essential
elements of the genre or mode, provide opportunities for public speaking and discus-
sion around the genre or mode, and walk students through the process of writing
analytical responses to texts in that genre or mode. Creative Writing Extension work-
shops in some readings chapters also provide opportunities for writing in that genre.

Skill Workshops open and anchor each chapter with essential skill
reinforcement. These workshops include a series of activities designed to introduce Guided Tour of Foundations of Language & Literature, Second Edition
students to the essential elements of the genre they are studying through a short,
engaging, grade-level text. Each Skill Workshop concludes with a Culminating
Activity that gives students an opportunity to demonstrate their current skills and
knowledge of that genre.

Essential Elements of Narrative
skill workshop that artistic license too far. Even though he didn’t fully acknowledge his mistakes, his
As you saw in Chapter 2 , there are different purposes for reading a text: you can read
for understanding, for interpretation, and for craft. But you also read different kinds of
Winfrey: And did you cling to that image because that’s how you wanted to see yourself?
5
texts differently depending on the genre or mode of text. In this Skill Workshop, you will
Or did you cling to that image because that would make a better book?
/
practice how to read narratives, understanding and appreciating how they are crafted
Frey: Probably both. . . . I don’t fee l like I conned everyone.
and what they mean. In many ways, narratives are similar to fictional novels and short
Clearly Winfrey and many other readers felt conned by Frey because he had taken
stories. They share many of the same essential features, with one important distinction:
stories. They share many of the same essential features, with one important distinction:
Narrative
they are expected to be true accounts of events that happened in real life.
they are expected to be true accounts of events that happened in real life.
publisher offered a refund to any reader who requested one.

PREVIEWING Academic Vocabulary Conflict

d
e
a
c
A
m
a
r
u
l
Essential Elements of Narrative
Essential Elements of Narrative
y

c
a
V
o
i
b

c
Spend some time thinking about conflicts that you have experienced in your own life
In this section, you will encounter the following terms as you consider how to analyze
In this section, you will encounter the following terms as you consider
how to analyze
and briefly identify a few in each of the following categories:
a narrative. Working individually or with a partner or small group, think about what you activity
a narrative. Working individually or with a partner or small group, think about what you
activity “Truth” and Artistic License • Self v. someone else
already know about the meaning of each term.
already know about the meaning of each term.
Think back on an event that happened to you at least five or more years ago. How

7. Reflection
• Self v. society (or group larger than an individual)
1. First person point of view

4. Blocking

much of the detail can you remember? If you were to write about this event for a skill workshop / Essential Elements of Narrative
8. Theme

5. Conflict
2. Characterization
• Self v. nature
narrative, what would you likely need to embellish? Why would these embellishments
• Self v. self
3. Dialogue
be effective for telling your story? 6. Setting 9. Artistic license
Then choose one and explain how that conflict was or was not resolved.
Let’s begin our exploration of the tools that writers use to create a narrative (which
can also be called a “memoir,” if it spans a long period of time) by reading the short
Setting
piece “Mother’s Tongue.” After you read it, we will walk through each of the significant
REFLECTING ON Academic Vocabulary Essential Elements of Narrative
features of a narrative by using this one as a model.
Effective narratives immerse the reader in a particular time and place, so that the reader
Working with a partner or small group, discuss the terms in this section and that you
can feel connected to the writer’s experience. In addition to the physical location of the
previewed on page 132 and clarify your understanding of each. Then, share what
narrative (a room, a house, a classroom, a bus), the setting of a narrative also includes
you learned about reading and writing narratives. What did you find helpful, relevant,
when the events take place (time of day, time of the year, historical time period). This
unnecessary, redundant, and so on?
Mother’s Tongue helps set the mood and atmosphere and helps the reader understand any historical,
cultural, or political issues that the narrative addresses. Look at the beginning of
Samuel Autman “Mother’s Tongue”:

Samuel A. Autman is an American essayist, travel writer, and enager stepped through the first set of automatic doors at Target, I was entering As the teenager stepped through the first set of automatic doors at Target, I was entering
As the te
from the parking lot. For a few seconds we stood in the foyer area between the sets of
college professor whose work often focuses on identity, place, arking lot. For a few seconds we stood in the foyer area between the sets of
from the p
culminating activity double doors. DePauw University
and pop culture. This piece was published in Brevity magazine
double doors.
in 2015. “Aren’t you? Aren’t you?” he asked, his lips quivering with joyful anticipation.
“Aren’t you? Aren’t you?” he asked, his lips quivering with joyful anticipation.
In the mid 1990s, the sight of a 6-foot-4 210-pound black man in Salt Lake City caused
In the mid 1990s, the sight of a 6-foot-4 210-pound black man in Salt Lake City caused
Writing a Narrative “Aren’t you? Aren’t you?” he asked, his lips
s the teenager stepped through the first set

many strange reactions.
many strange reactions.
Aof automatic doors at Target, I was entering quivering with joyful anticipation.
Write a brief narrative based on one of the ideas that you have been trying out in the
In the mid 1990s, the sight of a 6-foot-4
from the parking lot. For a few seconds we stood With just a short description of the time and place of one part of the narrative, Autman
activities throughout this workshop. Be sure to use first person point of view, include
gives the reader a sense of not only the location, but also how out of place he felt. In
in the foyer area between the sets of double 210-pound black man in Salt Lake City caused
some details about character, conflict, setting, try out some dialogue and blocking, and
Salt Lake City especially, African Americans are in the minority, accounting for less
doors. many strange reactions. His, however, mimicked
write a brief reflection. This piece will likely be a few paragraphs, just enough to prac-
tice with some of these narrative elements. than 5 percent of the population.
132
Uncorrected proofs have been used in this sample. activity
Setting
Copyright © Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
Think back on a recent event that took place at your school, home, neighborhood, or
some other place that you know well. It does not have to be anything significant; it
Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
could be something as mundane as burning toast at breakfast. Focus on describing
140
For review purposes only. Not for redistribution.
just the setting. Where did this event take place? What was the time of day? Write
a few sentences that help someone who has never been there feel immersed in the
setting. Try to offer details that establish a particular mood or atmosphere.
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