Reading and All That Jazz: Tuning Up Your Reading, Thinking, and Study Skills, 2/e

Peter Mather, Glendale Community College
Rita McCarthy, Glendale Community College

Four Primary Modes

Journal

Four Primary Modes

Reading Selection:

Thank You, Ma'm, by Langston Hughes

In Your Own Words


1		When did Mrs. Jones decide to take Roger home to her house?



2		Why didn't Mrs. Jones call the police? Do you think Roger had tried to steal anything before?



3		Why didn't Roger run when he finally was given the opportunity?



4		When they were finally at her home, why did Mrs. Jones give Roger the chance to steal her purse?



5		Why does Mrs. Jones want Roger to make himself "presentable"? How are her suggestions interpreted by Roger?



6		At the end of their meal together, why did Mrs. Jones give Roger the money to buy his blue suede shoes?



7		What lesson do you think Mrs. Jones was trying to teach Roger?



8		Look at the Notes on Vocabulary for an unusual meaning of the phrase "thank you ma'm." What do you think Hughes means to imply by the title of this story? Do you think he made use of this special meaning?

Written Assignment


9		Describe the character of Mrs. Jones. Use as many descriptive details as possible.



10		Trace the character development of Roger. How does his behavior change as the result of Mrs. Jones's actions?



11		Discuss how you helped someone or someone helped you. Give details about what happened and how you felt.

Reading Selection:

A Son's Memoir, by John Daniel

In Your Own Words


12		What is the main idea of this selection?



13		Why does Daniel feel resentful about having to help his mother with her shower?



14		Why does his mother initially resist taking a shower? What is the larger issue in their battle over the soap? What is the implication of his mother saying "Yes, Father" to him?



15		When does Daniel catch a glimpse of his mother as she might have been as a young girl?



16		What is the son implying when he describes attending to his mother as a kind of "dance"?



17		What image does the author use to describe his mother's impending death?



18		How do both mother and son feel at the conclusion of the shower?



19		What is the mother implying by her comment about "wings sprouting"?

Written Assignment


20		The poet Yeats said, "An aged man is but a paltry thing, a tattered coat upon a stick." Explain the meaning of this quotation. How are the elderly treated in the United States? How much deference is shown to the elderly in the United States? In other countries?

Reading Selection:

On Aging, by Maya Angelou

In your Own Words


21		Does the poem express conflicting attitudes toward growing old? If so, what are they?



22		The speaker's comment "and every goodbye ain't gone" criticizes what specific attitude on the part of family and friends?

Written Assignment


23		Compare and contrast the viewpoints toward the elderly expressed in the previous story to the viewpoints expressed by Angelou in her poem. What do the authors agree on concerning the treatment of the elderly? What do they disagree about?

Reading Selection:

Impulse Control: The Marshmallow Test, an excerpt from I, by Daniel Goleman


24		Do you think you were a one- or a two-marshmallow child? Provide evidence for your assertion.

"TV" from The Shelter of Each Other, By Mary Pipher


25		How much TV do you watch per day? Which programs do you watch?



26		After reading this article, would you reconsider your television viewing habits? Why or why not?

Written Assignment


27		Summarize the information presented in a local news show. Identify the subject of each story (murder, robbery, fire, accident. etc.), and the approximate amount of time given to coverage of the story.



28		Watch a TV drama, detective show, soap opera, or movie, and keep track of how many specific acts of violence the show portrays.



29		Find a cartoon in a magazine or newspaper and write down all that you can logically infer from it. Share the cartoon with a classmate and see if your inferences "match."

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