ENG 101: COMPOSITION I
INSTRUCTOR: Y. BAILEY-KIRBY

RESPONSE TO DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
ON “ONLY DAUGHTER” BY SANDRA CISNEROS

Directions:You will be responding to each assigned reading by answering the questions and citing passages or specific examples from the reading as supporting evidence. The response should be typed, double-spaced with one inch margins and be approximately a page at a minimum (350 words is the minimum, so you will most likely exceed this amount.) for each reading when you use a 12 size font. (Note: you will have closer to 500 words or even more, so do not do respond with less than 350 words, or you will not earn full credit.)

Of course, you can exceed the one page (350 words as I’ve said), and you should always include your name, class name and section, the date, and word count as your heading at the top in the MLA format, and center the title of the reading before your answers to the questions. (Note: Hand-written responses will not be accepted, and you must respond to all sets of questions or your response will not be accepted. Therefore, do not say: I don’t know as your answer to a question, but apply those critical thinking skills. Do not skip questions and do not be vague.)

Understanding Details:

  1. How many children are in Cisneros’s family? How many are boys?
  2. Why does Cisneros’s father always say he has seven sons? Why is this detail significant?
  3. Why did Cisneros’s father let her go to college? Explain your answer.
  4. What are the differences in the way the author’s father views his sons and his daughter?

Reading Critically:

  1. What does Cisneros’s mean when she says, “I am the only daughter and only a daughter” (paragraph 3)?
  2. What does her cultural heritage have to do with the fact that she is the only daughter?
  3. Why does Cisneros’s write for her father even though he can’t read English?
  4. Why was her father’s reaction to her story published in Spanish “the most wonderful” (paragraph 22) thing that happened to her last year? Why is her father’s opinion so important to her?

Discovering Rhetorical Strategies:

  1. From what point of view does Cisneros write this narrative essay? How does this particular point of view help us understand her attitude toward the experience?
  2. In writing this essay, Cisneros is making a comment about families in general and Mexican families in particular. What is her ultimate message? What details help you understand this message? Does the fact that she doesn’t capitalize “daughter” in her title have anything to do with this message?
  3. How does Cisneros organize the details of this narrative? Is this the most effective order for what she is trying to say?
  4. Although Cisneros’s essay is primarily narrative, what other rhetorical strategies does she use to make her point? Give examples of each.

RESPONSE TO DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
ON “DADS ARE DUDES” BY NANCY GIBBS

Directions:You will be responding to each assigned reading by answering the questions and citing passages or specific examples from the reading as supporting evidence. The response should be typed, double-spaced with one inch margins and be approximately a page at a minimum (350 words is the minimum, so you will most likely exceed this amount.) for each reading when you use a 12 size font. (Note: you will have closer to 500 words or even more, so do not do respond with less than 350 words, or you will not earn full credit.)

Of course, you can exceed the one page (350 words as I’ve said), and you should always include your name, class name and section, the date, and word count as your heading at the top in the MLA format, and center the title of the reading before your answers to the questions. (Note: Hand-written responses will not be accepted, and you must respond to all sets of questions or your response will not be accepted. Therefore, do not say: I don’t know as your answer to a question, but apply those critical thinking skills. Do not skip questions and do not be vague.)

Understanding Details:

  1. What is Gibb’s primary message in this essay?
  2. According to Gibbs, what are the major differences in the roles fathers have played from the 1960s to the present?
  3. According to the author, in what aspects of parenting are dads generally more relaxed than moms?
  4. What does Gibbs mean when she says, “the more engaged fathers become, the more women have to reckon with what a true parenting partnership would look like” (paragraph 6)?

Reading Critically:

  1. What clues in the first paragraph help you predict what this essay will be about?
  2. How do retailers fit in with the increased involvement of fathers in their children’s upbringing?
  3. In what way does the use of statistics in paragraph 3 support Gibb’s message?
  4. Do you agree with Gibbs that “being a parent is a skill you practice but never master” (paragraph 8)?

Discovering Rhetorical Strategies:

  1. What does the title convey to you?
  2. Who do you think is Gibbs’s intended audience?
  3. What is the author’s overall tone in this essay?
  4. List Gibbs’s main points, and explain how her essay is organized.

RESPONSE TO DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
ON “THE LIBRARY CARD” BY RICHARD WRIGHT

Directions:You will be responding to each assigned reading by answering the questions and citing passages or specific examples from the reading as supporting evidence. The response should be typed, double-spaced with one inch margins and be approximately a page at a minimum (350 words is the minimum, so you will most likely exceed this amount.) for each reading when you use a 12 size font. (Note: you will have closer to 500 words or even more, so do not do respond with less than 350 words, or you will not earn full credit.)

Of course, you can exceed the one page (350 words as I’ve said), and you should always include your name, class name and section, the date, and word count as your heading at the top in the MLA format, and center the title of the reading before your answers to the questions. (Note: Hand-written responses will not be accepted, and you must respond to all sets of questions or your response will not be accepted. Therefore, do not say: I don’t know as your answer to a question, but apply those critical thinking skills. Do not skip questions and do not be vague.)

Understanding Details:

  1. Why was a library card so important to Richard Wright?
  2. What kinds of obstacles did Wright have to overcome? What sacrifices did he make to achieve his goal of reading books from the library?
  3. Why do you think Jim Falk lent Richard Wright his library card? Why did Falk want to keep it a secret?
  4. What words would you use to describe the librarian? How would you describe the way Richard Wright acted towards her?

Reading Critically:

  1. Why do you think some people in the South in the early 1900s wanted to control who was allowed to borrow and read books from the library? Do you think this was right? Why?
  2. Prejudice is an opinion formed without knowing the facts or by ignoring the facts. What kind of prejudice was shown toward Richard Wright? How do you think Wright felt about the way people like him were treated?
  3. How did reading books change Richard Wright? Why did Wright have such a hunger for knowledge?
  4. What do you think is the central idea of this story? (i.e. Discrimination, Quest for Knowledge, Perseverance, etc.) Why?

Discovering Rhetorical Strategies:

  1. From what point of view does Wright write this story? How does this particular point of view help us understand her attitude toward his experience? How does he also use details about the setting and certain characters to help us understand his experience?
  2. In writing this story, Wright is making a comment about class, race, prejudice, identity, and so forth. What is his ultimate message? What details help you understand this message?
  3. How does Wright organize the details of this narrative? Is this the most effective order for what she is trying to say? What does the title and ultimate the “library card” represent/symbolize for Wright?
  4. Although Wright’s story is primarily narrative/fiction, what other rhetorical strategies does he use to make his point? Give examples of each.

RESPONSE TO DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
ON “AMERICA MUST TAKE STRONGER MEASURES TO HALT ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION” BY MICHAEL SCOTT AND “ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION DOES NOT THREATEN AMERICA BY RICHARD RAYNOR

Directions:You will be responding to each assigned reading by answering the questions and citing passages or specific examples from the reading as supporting evidence. The response should be typed, double-spaced with one inch margins and be approximately a page at a minimum (350 words is the minimum, so you will most likely exceed this amount.) for each reading when you use a 12 size font. (Note: you will have closer to 500 words or even more, so do not do respond with less than 350 words, or you will not earn full credit.)

Of course, you can exceed the one page (350 words as I’ve said), and you should always include your name, class name and section, the date, and word count as your heading at the top in the MLA format, and center the title of the reading before your answers to the questions. (Note: Hand-written responses will not be accepted, and you must respond to all sets of questions or your response will not be accepted. Therefore, do not say: I don’t know as your answer to a question, but apply those critical thinking skills. Do not skip questions and do not be vague.)

Understanding Details:

  1. What are Scott (“America Must Take Stronger Measures to Halt Illegal Immigration”) and Raynor (“Illegal Immigration Does Not Threaten America”) each saying about illegal immigration in these two essays?
  2. What arguments can you think of to supplement both of their essays?
  3. What three basic steps does Scott say must be taken through law enforcement to stop illegal immigration? Explain each in detail.
  4. What does Raynor mean when he says, “Ultimately, this is a debate about values, not money. This is about how America feels about itself” (paragraph 34)?

Reading Critically:

  1. Which stand on this particular argument is most convincing to you? Which examples or statistics seem most persuasive? Explain your reactions to each of these two positions.
  2. Would you agree to pay higher prices “to rid our land of illegal immigrants” (Scott, paragraph 12)?
  3. What do you think Melville means by the words “We are not a nation, so much as a world” (Raynor, paragraph 12)? Do you agree with this statement?
  4. How might the opinions in these two essays be reconciled? Can you make a compromise prediction that combines both these views of the world?

Discovering Rhetorical Strategies:

  1. Who do you think is the intended audience for each of these essays? Are there any important differences between these audiences, in your opinion?
  2. These two authors make their points with slightly different writing voices. Describe the tone or mood of each essay, and explain whether you think that particular voice is most effective for the author’s purpose.
  3. How does the organization of the two essays differ? What is the general organizing principle in each case?
  4. What other rhetorical strategies does each essay use to make its point? Give examples of each strategy.