Analyze The Image: What Freedoms Could These People Be Demanding?

Analyze the Image
What freedoms could these people

be demanding?
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
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446 UNIT 5
UNIT
5
Freedom
at All
Costs
“If there is no struggle,
there is no progress.”
— Frederick Douglass
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
Can each of us find
freedom?
447
Spark Your
Learning
As you read, you can
use the Response Log
Here are some opportunities to think about the (page R5) to track your
topics and themes of Unit 5: Freedom at All Costs. thinking about the
Essential Question.
Think About the

Essential Question
Can each of us find freedom?
One definition of freedom is “the power or right to act,
speak, or think as one wants without restraint.” What
other freedoms can you think of? Can all people find
some kind of freedom? Write down your thoughts.
Make the Connection
Think about groups, communities,
or societies that have fought
for freedom. With a partner,
discuss examples of people who
have fought against limits to
their freedoms. What were the
successes? In what instances is the
struggle ongoing?
Build Academic Vocabulary

You can use these Academic Vocabulary words to write
and talk about the topics and themes in this unit. Which of
Prove It! these words do you already feel comfortable using when
What freedoms can

speaking or writing?
governments give people—
or take away from them? I can use it! I understand it. I’ll look it up.
Discuss your ideas using at
decline
least one of the Academic
Vocabulary words. enable
impose
integrate
reveal
448 UNIT 5
Preview the Texts
Look over the images, titles, and descriptions of the texts in the unit. Mark
the title of the text that interests you most.
Harrison Bergeron I Have a Dream from Interview with

Short Story by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Speech by Martin Luther King Jr. John Lewis
It’s a brave new world where everyone In this landmark civil rights speech, Podcast from National Public Radio
is equal, and life is better—or is it? Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. A civil rights pioneer reflects on his
shares his vision of an end to racism. lifelong fight for justice.
from Hidden Figures Booker T. and W.E.B. from Reading Lolita in Tehran
History Writing by Margot Lee Shetterly Poem by Dudley Randall Memoir by Azar Nafisi
Female African American Two prominent African American The author describes conditions
mathematicians shatter racial and thinkers face off in this imaginary her female students face under a
gender barriers to make critical debate. repressive regime in Iran.
(tr) ©Douglas Graham/CQ-Roll Call Group/Getty Images; (cl) NASA Langley Research Center, (bg) ©Laborant/Shutterstock;
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©Radius Images/Alamy; (tc) ©Nikreates/Alamy;
contributions to the Allied effort during

(c) ©utah778/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images; (cr) ©Christopher Furlong/Getty Images News/Getty Images
World War II.
Think Outside the Box

Think about the quotation from Frederick Douglass on the second unit
introduction page: “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” Douglass
was at the center of a momentous struggle to free enslaved people in the
United States. Do you think that overcoming oppression to find freedom
from Persepolis 2: always requires struggle or great effort of some kind? Why or why not?
The Story of a Return Freewrite your thoughts.
Graphic Memoir by Marjane Satrapi
In this graphic novel, people resist
harsh government repression
through small acts of rebellion.
449
Get Ready
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
Can each of us find
Harrison Bergeron freedom?
Short Story by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Engage Your Brain

Television: Good or Bad?
Choose one or more of these activities to start
Television has been a controversial
connecting with the short story you’re about to read.
technology since it became popular in the
1950s. What do you think of its impact and
We’re All the Same effects?
1. Make a list of the positive and negative
What would the world be like if everyone were the
aspects of TV.
same—average in intelligence, talents, appearance, and
strength—and no one was better than anyone else? 2. Compare lists with a classmate.
Would people be happy and satisfied? 3. Discuss points of agreement and
With a partner, brainstorm possible advantages and disagreement.
disadvantages of a world where everyone is the same—
exactly average.
Advantages Disadvantages
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©patpitchaya/Shutterstock
World Gone Dark

Many science fiction and
fantasy works describe a
dystopian future, in which
things go terribly wrong
and life is a dark nightmare.
With a partner, discuss
dystopian movies, games,
or books you are familiar
with. What are the bleak
conditions described
in each work? What has
caused them?
450 UNIT 5 ANALYZE & APPLY

Get Ready
Analyze Literary Devices: Irony

Irony is a literary device that writers use to present a contrast between
appearance and reality. The chart describes the two types of irony Kurt Focus on Genre
Vonnegut Jr. uses in the short story “Harrison Bergeron.” Short Story
• a work of fiction, typically
Verbal Irony Situational Irony coming from the writer’s
imagination
• occurs when someone
knowingly exaggerates, or
• is a contrast between what a
reader or character expects
• includes the basic elements of
fiction—setting, characters,
overstates, something and what actually exists or plot, conflict, and theme
Example: “I’m the best

happens • focuses on one main conflict,
or one specific event or
basketball player in the Example: A post on social moment in time
whole country!” media that complains about • can be read in one sitting
• may state the opposite of

what is meant
what a waste of time social
media is.
Example: “All the products

we make here help people”
(when they in fact hurt
people).
As you read, mark examples of verbal and situational irony you notice.
Analyze Point of View: Satire

Writers use satire to ridicule ideas, customs, behaviors, and institutions
with the intent of improving them. Satire, which may reflect the author’s
or the narrator’s perspective, can be humorous, abrasive, or angry in tone.
Writers of satire often use irony and exaggeration to force readers to see
something in a new way.
As you read, use the chart to analyze what the text says and what is being
criticized or ridiculed.
What the Text Says What It Criticizes or Ridicules
“All this equality was due to the 211th, It ridicules the idea of using
212th, and 213th Amendments to the government to make everyone the same.
Constitution” (paragraph 1)
Harrison Bergeron 451

Get Ready
Annotation in Action
Here is an example of notes a student made about a paragraph from
“Harrison Bergeron.” As you read the story, highlight words and phrases
that show how the author uses verbal irony to create an effective satire.
“If I tried to get away with it,” said George, “then other Their lives seem so
people’d get away with it—and pretty soon we’d be right back awful! It is ironic for
to the dark ages again, with everybody competing against him to imply that the
everybody else. You wouldn’t like that, would you?” “dark ages” of the past
were worse than the
present.
Expand Your Vocabulary

Put a check mark next to the vocabulary words that you feel comfortable
using when speaking or writing.
vigilance
Turn to a partner and talk about the vocabulary words
wince you already know. Then, use as many of the vocabulary
words as you can to describe what you think life will be
consternation
like in 2081.
cower As you read “Harrison Bergeron,” use the definitions
in the side column to help you learn the vocabulary
synchronize words you don’t already know.
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neutralize
Background
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (1922–2007) became one of the most acclaimed
and prolific writers in America over the course of his lifetime. Like many
writers of his time, Vonnegut’s experiences as a soldier in World War II
shaped much of his writing. During the war, Vonnegut was captured
and held as a prisoner of war in Dresden, Germany, then considered
one of the world’s most beautiful cities. The city was leveled by a fierce
firebombing in an effort to diminish the Nazis’ war effort.
The destruction and horrors of the Dresden firebombing became the

focus of Vonnegut’s most famous novel, Slaughterhouse-Five, published
in 1969. Vonnegut frequently wrote with dark humor and elements of
fantasy and even absurdity, which has given his writing lasting appeal.

Harrison Bergeron
Short Story by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
It’s a brave new world where everyone is equal, NOTICE & NOTE
As you read, use the side
and life is better—or is it?
margins to make notes
about the text.
1
T he year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren’t
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Radius Images/Alamy
only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which vigilance
way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better (v∆j'∂-l∂ns) n. alert attention;
looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than watchfulness.
anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th ANALYZE POINT OF VIEW:
Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of SATIRE
agents of the United States Handicapper General. Annotate: Mark the words and
2 Some things about living still weren’t quite right, though. April, phrases used again and again in
for instance, still drove people crazy by not being springtime. And it paragraph 1.
was in that clammy month that the H-G men took George and Hazel Analyze: What tone is the
Bergeron’s fourteen-year-old son, Harrison, away. author creating through his use
3 It was tragic, all right, but George and Hazel couldn’t think of repetition? How does the
about it very hard. Hazel had a perfectly average intelligence, which repetition help establish that this
meant she couldn’t think about anything except in short bursts. And story is a satire?
George, while his intelligence was way above normal, had a little
mental handicap radio in his ear. He was required by law to wear it
at all times. It was tuned to a government transmitter. Every twenty

seconds or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to
keep people like George from taking unfair advantage of their brains.
4 George and Hazel were watching television. There were tears on
Hazel’s cheeks, but she’d forgotten for the moment what they were
about.
5 On the television screen were ballerinas.
6 A buzzer sounded in George’s head. His thoughts fled in panic,
like bandits from a burglar alarm.
7 “That was a real pretty dance, that dance they just did,” said
Hazel.
8 “Huh?” said George.
9 “That dance—it was nice,” said Hazel.
10 “Yup,” said George. He tried to think a little about the ballerinas.
They weren’t really very good—no better than anybody else would
have been, anyway. They were burdened with sash-weights1 and bags
of birdshot,2 and their faces were masked, so that no one, seeing a free
and graceful gesture or a pretty face, would feel like something the cat
drug in. George was toying with the vague notion that maybe dancers
shouldn’t be handicapped. But he didn’t get very far with it before
another noise in his ear radio scattered his thoughts.
wince 11 George winced. So did two out of the eight ballerinas.
(w∆ns) v. to shrink or flinch 12 Hazel saw him wince. Having no mental handicap herself, she
involuntarily, especially in pain. had to ask George what the latest sound had been.
13 “Sounded like somebody hitting a milk bottle with a ball peen
hammer,”3 said George.
14 “I’d think it would be real interesting, hearing all the different
sounds,” said Hazel, a little envious. “All the things they think up.”
15 “Um,” said George.
16 “Only, if I was Handicapper General, you know what I would
do?” said Hazel. Hazel, as a matter of fact, bore a strong resemblance
VOCABULARY to the Handicapper General, a woman named Diana Moon Glampers.
“If I was Diana Moon Glampers,” said Hazel, “I’d have chimes on
Context Clues: To infer the
Sunday—just chimes. Kind of in honor of religion.”
meaning of doozy (paragraphs
22 and 23), look for clues in the 17 “I could think, if it was just chimes,” said George.
sentences and paragraphs around 18 “Well—maybe make ’em real loud,” said Hazel. “I think I’d make a
it. One clue is how the author good Handicapper General.”
uses doozy to describe the sound 19 “Good as anybody else,” said George.
George hears inside his head. 20 “Who knows better’n I do what normal is?” said Hazel.
From George’s reactions to this

21 “Right,” said George. He began to think glimmeringly about his
sound—another clue—readers
can infer that doozy means abnormal son who was now in jail, about Harrison, but a twenty-one-
“something very extraordinary.” gun salute in his head stopped that.
22 “Boy!” said Hazel, “that was a doozy, wasn’t it?”
Analyze: Why do you think
the author uses such a playful- 23 It was such a doozy that George was white and trembling, and
sounding word as doozy to tears stood on the rims of his red eyes. Two of the eight ballerinas had
describe the sound? collapsed to the studio floor, were holding their temples.
1
sash-weights: lead weights used in some windows to keep them from falling down when
raised.
2
birdshot: tiny lead pellets for loading in shotgun shells.
3
ball peen hammer: a hammer that has a head with one flat side and one rounded side.

24 “All of a sudden you look so tired,” said Hazel. “Why don’t you Don’t forget to
stretch out on the sofa, so’s you can rest your handicap bag on the Notice & Note as you
read the text.
pillows, honeybunch.” She was referring to the forty-seven pounds of
birdshot in a canvas bag, which was padlocked around George’s neck.
‘‘Go on and rest the bag for a little while,” she said. “I don’t care if
you’re not equal to me for a while.”
25 George weighed the bag with his hands. “I don’t mind it,” he said.
“I don’t notice it any more. It’s just a part of me.”
26 “You been so tired lately—kind of wore out,” said Hazel. “If there
was just some way we could make a little hole in the bottom of the
bag, and just take out a few of them lead balls. Just a few.”
27 “Two years in prison and two thousand dollars fine for every ball
I took out,” said George. “I don’t call that a bargain.”
28 “If you could just take a few out when you came home from
work,” said Hazel. “I mean—you don’t compete with anybody around
here. You just set around.”
29 “If I tried to get away with it,” said George, “then other people’d
get away with it—and pretty soon we’d be right back to the dark
ages again, with everybody competing against everybody else. You
wouldn’t like that, would you?”
30 ‘‘I’d hate it,” said Hazel.
31 “There you are,” said George. “The minute people start cheating
on laws, what do you think happens to society?” NOTICE & NOTE
32 If Hazel hadn’t been able to come up with an answer to this AGAIN AND AGAIN
question, George couldn’t have supplied one. A siren was going off in When you notice certain events,
his head. images, or words recurring over
33 “Reckon it’d fall all apart,” said Hazel. a portion of the story or poem,
you’ve found an Again and Again
34 “What would?” said George blankly.
signpost.
35 “Society,” said Hazel uncertainly. “Wasn’t that what you just said?”
36 “Who knows?” said George. Notice & Note: Mark the sounds
George hears in his head in
37 The television program was suddenly interrupted for a news
paragraphs 21 and 32.
bulletin. It wasn’t clear at first as to what the bulletin was about, since
the announcer, like all announcers, had a serious speech impediment. Infer: Why might the author
repeatedly bring up the sounds
For about half a minute, and in a state of high excitement, the
George hears in his head?
announcer tried to say, “Ladies and gentlemen—”
38 He finally gave up, handed the bulletin to a ballerina to read.
39 “That’s all right—” Hazel said of the announcer, “he tried. That’s
the big thing. He tried to do the best he could with what God gave
him. He should get a nice raise for trying so hard.”

40 “Ladies and gentlemen—” said the ballerina, reading the bulletin.
She must have been extraordinarily beautiful, because the mask she
wore was hideous. And it was easy to see that she was the strongest
and most graceful of all the dancers, for her handicap bags were as
big as those worn by two-hundred-pound men.
41 And she had to apologize at once for her voice, which was a very
unfair voice for a woman to use. Her voice was a warm, luminous,
timeless melody. “Excuse me—” she said, and she began again,
making her voice absolutely uncompetitive.

42 “Harrison Bergeron, age fourteen,” she said in a grackle4 squawk,
ANALYZE POINT OF VIEW: “has just escaped from jail, where he was held on suspicion of plotting
SATIRE to overthrow the government. He is a genius and an athlete, is under-
Annotate: Mark the words and handicapped, and should be regarded as extremely dangerous.”
phrases in paragraphs 40–42 that 43 A police photograph of Harrison Bergeron was flashed on the
show the kinds of qualities and screen—upside down, then sideways, upside down again, then right
abilities that are considered too
side up. The picture showed the full length of Harrison against a
competitive in 2081.
background calibrated in feet and inches. He was exactly seven
Analyze: What comment might feet tall.
the author be making about
The rest of Harrison’s appearance was Halloween and hardware.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Maxim Tarasyugin/Shutterstock

44
characteristics our society values?
Nobody had ever borne heavier handicaps. He had outgrown
hindrances faster than the H-G men could think them up. Instead of
a little ear radio for a mental handicap, he wore a tremendous pair of
earphones, and spectacles with thick wavy lenses. The spectacles were
intended to make him not only half blind, but to give him whanging
headaches besides.
45 Scrap metal was hung all over him. Ordinarily, there was a certain
symmetry, a military neatness to the handicaps issued to strong
people, but Harrison looked like a walking junkyard. In the race of
life, Harrison carried three hundred pounds.
46 And to offset his good looks, the H-G men required that he wear
at all times a red rubber ball for a nose, keep his eyebrows shaved
off, and cover his even white teeth with black caps at snaggle-tooth
random.
47 “If you see this boy,” said the ballerina, “do not—I repeat, do
not—try to reason with him.”
4
grackle: a blackbird with a harsh, unpleasant call.

48 There was the shriek of a door being torn from its hinges.
49 Screams and barking cries of consternation came from the consternation
television set. The photograph of Harrison Bergeron on the screen (k≤n-st∂r-n∑´sh∂n) n. a state of
jumped again and again, as though dancing to the tune of an great alarm, agitation, or dismay.
earthquake.
50 George Bergeron correctly identified the earthquake, and well
he might have—for many was the time his own home had danced
to the same crashing tune. “My God—” said George, “that must be
Harrison!”
51 The realization was blasted from his mind instantly by the sound
of an automobile collision in his head.
52 When George could open his eyes again, the photograph of
Harrison was gone. A living, breathing Harrison filled the screen.
53 Clanking, clownish, and huge, Harrison stood in the center of the
studio. The knob of the uprooted studio door was still in his hand.
Ballerinas, technicians, musicians, and announcers cowered on their cower
knees before him, expecting to die. (kou´∂r) v. to crouch down in fear.
54 “I am the Emperor!” cried Harrison. “Do you hear? I am the ANALYZE LITERARY DEVICES:
Emperor! Everybody must do what I say at once!” He stamped his IRONY
foot and the studio shook. Annotate: In paragraphs
55 “Even as I stand here—” he bellowed, “crippled, hobbled, 54–55, mark what titles Harrison is
sickened—I am a greater ruler than any man who ever lived! Now claiming.
watch me become what I can become!” Analyze: Why are Harrison’s
56 Harrison tore the straps of his handicap harness like wet tissue claims to these titles ironic?
paper, tore straps guaranteed to support five thousand pounds.
57 Harrison’s scrap-iron handicaps crashed to the floor.
58 Harrison thrust his thumbs under the bar of the padlock that
secured his head harness. The bar snapped like celery. Harrison
smashed his headphones and spectacles against the wall.
59 He flung away his rubber-ball nose, revealed a man that would
have awed Thor, the god of thunder.
60 “I shall now select my Empress!” he said, looking down on the
cowering people. “Let the first woman who dares rise to her feet claim
her mate and her throne!”
61 A moment passed, and then a ballerina arose, swaying like a
willow.
62 Harrison plucked the mental handicap from her ear, snapped
off her physical handicaps with marvellous delicacy. Last of all, he
removed her mask.

63 She was blindingly beautiful.
64 “Now—” said Harrison, taking her hand, “shall we show the
people the meaning of the word dance? Music!” he commanded.
65 The musicians scrambled back into their chairs, and Harrison
stripped them of their handicaps, too. “Play your best,” he told them,
“and I’ll make you barons and dukes and earls.”
66 The music began. It was normal at first—cheap, silly, false. But
Harrison snatched two musicians from their chairs, waved them like
batons as he sang the music as he wanted it played. He slammed them
back into their chairs.

67 The music began again and was much improved.
68 Harrison and his Empress merely listened to the music for a
synchronize while—listened gravely, as though synchronizing their heartbeats
(s∆ng´kr∂-nπz) v. to match the with it.
timing of. 69 They shifted their weights to their toes.
70 Harrison placed his big hands on the girl’s tiny waist, letting her
sense the weightlessness that would soon be hers.
71 And then, in an explosion of joy and grace, into the air they
sprang!
72 Not only were the laws of the land abandoned, but the law of
gravity and the laws of motion as well.
73 They reeled, whirled, swiveled, flounced, capered, gamboled, and
spun.
74 They leaped like deer on the moon.
75 The studio ceiling was thirty feet high, but each leap brought the
dancers nearer to it.
76 It became their obvious intention to kiss the ceiling.
77 They kissed it.
neutralize 78 And then, neutralizing gravity with love and pure will, they
(n◊´tr∂-lπz´) v. to counteract or remained suspended in air inches below the ceiling, and they kissed
cancel the effect of. each other for a long, long time.
79 It was then that Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicapper
General, came into the studio with a double-barreled ten-gauge
shotgun. She fired twice, and the Emperor and the Empress were
dead before they hit the floor.
80 Diana Moon Glampers loaded the gun again. She aimed it at the
musicians and told them they had ten seconds to get their handicaps
back on.
81 It was then that the Bergerons’ television tube burned out.
82 Hazel turned to comment about the blackout to George. But
George had gone out into the kitchen for a can of beer.
83 George came back in with the beer, paused while a handicap
signal shook him up. And then he sat down again. “You been crying?”
he said to Hazel.
84 “Yup,” she said.
85 “What about?” he said.
ANALYZE LITERARY DEVICES: 86 “I forget,” she said. “Something real sad on television.”
IRONY 87 “What was it?” he said.
Annotate: In paragraph 86, mark 88 “It’s all kind of mixed up in my mind,” said Hazel.
Hazel’s reaction to the event she 89 “Forget sad things,” said George.
and George witness on television. 90 “I always do,” said Hazel.
Analyze: How does this 91 “That’s my girl,” said George. He winced. There was the sound of
situational irony reinforce the a riveting gun5 in his head.
author’s satiric message? 92 “Gee—I could tell that one was a doozy,” said Hazel.
93 “You can say that again,” said George.
94 “Gee—” said Hazel, “I could tell that one was a doozy.”
5
riveting gun: a power tool used to hammer rivets (bolts) that are used in construction
and manufacturing to fasten metal beams or plates together.

COLLABORATIVE DISCUSSION ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
Can each of us find
Is the story’s ending comic, tragic—or something else? Discuss your
freedom?
thoughts with a partner.
Review your notes and

add your thoughts to your
Response Log.
Assessment Practice
Answer these questions before moving on to the Analyze the Text
section on the following page.
1. This question has two parts. First, answer Part A. Then, answer Part B.
Part A
At one point, Hazel suggests that George lighten the load of his handicap bag. Why
does George refuse to do so?
A He thinks his handicap bag should be even heavier.
B He does not want to cause trouble for himself or others.
C He does not want to cause trouble for Hazel or Harrison.
D He enjoys having a handicap bag instead of a handicap radio.
Part B
Select two sentences that provide relevant support for the answer in Part A.
A “George was toying with the vague notion that maybe dancers shouldn’t be
handicapped.” (paragraph 10)
B “‘I could think, if it was just chimes,’ said George.” (paragraph 17)
C “‘Two years in prison and two thousand dollars fine for every ball I took out,’
said George. ‘I don’t call that a bargain.’” (paragraph 27)
D “‘If you could just take a few out when you came home from work,’ said Hazel.”
(paragraph 28)
E “‘If I tried to get away with it,’ said George, ‘. . . we’d be right back to the
dark ages again, with everybody competing against everybody else. . . .’”
(paragraph 29)
2. Why is Harrison handicapped so much by the government?
A He has many above-average skills and qualities.
B He has many below-average skills and qualities.
C He is being punished for breaking the law.
D He is going to be the next Handicapper General.

Test-Taking Strategies

Respond
Analyze the Text

Support your responses with evidence from the text.
NOTICE & NOTE
1 INTERPRET Reread paragraph 3. How does the idea of keeping people Review what
from “taking unfair advantage of their brains” demonstrate situational you noticed and
noted as you read
irony?
the text. Your
annotations can
help you answer
2 COMPARE Review paragraphs 27–31 and 54–66. Think about how these questions.
George and Harrison respond to the handicaps imposed upon them.
Why are their responses so different? Are there any similarities in their
responses? Why or why not?
3 SUMMARIZE What is the main conflict, or struggle between opposing

forces, in the story? How is this conflict resolved?
4 INFER Reread the story’s ending (paragraphs 83–94). Summarize how

Hazel and George react to Harrison’s death. Why do they react this way?
5 EVALUATE Think about the impact television has in the story. Is

television partly responsible for the society depicted in the story? Why or
why not? Support your answer with text evidence.
6 ANALYZE What is the author’s point of view toward society in this story?
Think about elements the author points out Again and Again. How do
these recurring events, images, and words support this point of view? Use
the graphic organizer to complete your response.
Recurring Events, Images, and How They Support the

Author’s Point of View
Words Author’s Point of View
7 CRITIQUE A writer of satire aims to ridicule or criticize society in the

hope of improving it. Review the examples of satire you listed on the Get
Ready page. Does the story achieve the aims of satire? Could the story’s
insights lead to improvements in society today? Explain.

Respond
Choices
Here are some other ways to demonstrate your understanding
of the ideas in this lesson.
Writing As you write and discuss,

Switching Perspectives be sure to use the
Academic Vocabulary
“Harrison Bergeron” is written from the third-person point of view. words.
Rewrite or continue the story from the first-person point of view.
decline
From the perspective of one of the characters, describe what it is like
to wear the handicaps described in the story. enable
impose
integrate
Media reveal
Call to Resist
You are part of an underground movement that
is resisting the new Constitutional Amendments
and the Handicapper General agents in the story.
Create a message that describes dangers posed Speaking & Listening
by the government and rallies citizens to revolt Small-Group Discussion
against the regime’s control. Include “Harrison Bergeron” satirizes extreme and absurd
• a summary of threats the controls pose to
citizens’ physical, emotional, and intellectual
methods used to achieve equality. Yet many
groups and societies share the goal of equality
health under the law. Are they defining the term
• rhetorical appeals to logic, emotion, and/or

people’s ethical sense
differently from the government’s definition in
the story?
• your group’s resistance plan Organize a group to discuss equality and how it
can be achieved.
• images that drive home the threats posed by
the government • Agree on a definition of equality the group
will use.
Deliver your message as a printed brochure,
•
online, or using a new delivery platform people Cite examples of when individuals and
groups have pushed governments toward
are using in 2081.
greater equality.
• Acknowledge other perspectives or opinions

in the group.
• Build on each other’s ideas.
• Summarize your conclusions.

Respond

PRACTICE AND APPLY
Answer the questions to show your understanding of the vocabulary
words. Use a dictionary or thesaurus as needed.
1. A cat keeping a close eye out for a mouse or other prey to appear is showing
vigilance. Why?
2. If I stub my toe on that rock, I know I will wince. Why?
3. General consternation arose among the shoppers when the power went out in
the store. Why?
4. When a hawk swoops down, the animal it is trying to catch is likely to cower. Why?
5. If the dance team does not synchronize all their gestures and steps, they are going to
lose the dance contest. Why?
6. Our football team tried a trick play on offense, but the other team was able to
neutralize it with a great defensive play. Why?
Vocabulary Strategy
Context Clues
To determine the meaning of a word or phrase you do not know, remember to Interactive Vocabulary
look for context clues—punctuation marks, words, sentences, and paragraphs Lesson: Using Context
Clues
that can give you clues about the word’s meaning. Study this example from
“Harrison Bergeron” to learn more about using context clues:
Unfamiliar Word Context Context Clues
transmitter And George, while his intelligence was way For the radio in George’s ear
above normal, had a little mental handicap to work, it needs to receive a
signal. The transmitter sends
radio in his ear. He was required by law to wear
out a sharp noise—a signal—to
it at all times. It was tuned to a government George’s radio. From these clues,
transmitter. Every twenty seconds or so, the a transmitter is probably some

transmitter would send out some sharp noise sort of device that sends out
to keep people like George from taking unfair signals that radios can pick up, or
advantage of their brains. (paragraph 3) receive.
PRACTICE AND APPLY

With a partner, locate these words and phrases in the story: set around (paragraph 28),
speech impediment (paragraph 37), hideous (paragraph 40), calibrated (paragraph 43), and
hindrances (paragraph 44). Use context clues to determine their meanings. Then, use each
word in a complete sentence. Check your definitions in a dictionary.

Respond
Watch Your Language!

Participial Phrases
A participle is a verb form that acts as an adjective. It modifies, or
describes, a noun or a pronoun. Most participles end in -ing, -ed, or -en.
A participial phrase is a group of words made up of a participle plus its

modifiers and complements. To avoid confusing the reader, a participial
phrase should be placed as close as possible to the word it modifies.
Writers use participial phrases to enrich their sentences with imaginative

details. Study the example below from the story:
A moment passed, and then a ballerina arose, swaying

like a willow.
Notice how the participial phrase “swaying like a willow” provides a vivid
image of the ballerina’s gracefulness.
Participial phrases are punctuated in different ways depending on their Interactive Grammar
Lesson: Participial Phrases
location in the sentence.
If the participial phrase is at the end If the participial phrase is at the If the participial phrase is in the
of the sentence, a comma comes beginning of the sentence, a comma middle of the sentence, it is usually
before it. comes after it. set off by two commas.
“Ladies and gentlemen—” Standing in line, they waited for the And then, neutralizing gravity
said the ballerina, reading the doors to open. with love and pure will, they
bulletin. (paragraph 40) remained suspended in air. . . .
(paragraph 78)
PRACTICE AND APPLY

With a partner, review “Harrison Bergeron” and identify additional
examples of participial phrases. Explain what nouns or pronouns they
modify. Then, discuss how these participial phrases add to readers’

understanding and enjoyment.
On your own, write two paragraphs about a future society in which

everyone is forced to be average. Use participial phrases in both
paragraphs and vary where they are used—at the beginning, the middle,
and the end of a sentence. Make sure you punctuate correctly.

Get Ready
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
Can each of us find
I Have a Dream freedom?
Speech by Martin Luther King Jr.
Engage Your Brain

Outsider
Choose one or both of these activities to start
Have you ever been treated differently? How did
connecting with the speech you are about to read.
it make you feel? Write a paragraph describing
what happened and how you reacted.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©DavidEwingPhotography/Shutterstock

You Have a Dream
Do you have a dream for the United States? Sketch or make a list of changes
that would move the country toward your vision of a “more perfect union.”

Get Ready
Analyze Arguments
One way to analyze Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech is to look at it as an
argument. As you read, think about how each part works, noting the
evidence and appeals King uses to persuade his audience.
Focus on Genre
Speech
Part of an Argument Example from Speech
• directly addresses and
The central idea of . . . the Negro still is not free; one hundred connects with audiences
an argument is the years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly • uses rhetorical devices to
claim. crippled by the manacles of segregation and achieve specific purpose
the chains of discrimination . . . • contains a clear message,
stated near the beginning
• ends memorably
The author must We can never be satisfied as long as the
support the claim Negro is the victim of the unspeakable
with evidence and horrors of police brutality . . .
examples.
To persuade an Some of you have come fresh from narrow

audience of a claim, jail cells. Some of you have come from areas
the author may make where your quest for freedom left you
an emotional appeal
battered by the storms of persecution and
to the audience by
connecting with their staggered by the winds of police brutality.
experiences.
In the conclusion, the I have a dream that my four little children

author sums up the will one day live in a nation where they will
claim with a strong not be judged by the color of their skin, but
statement about what
by the content of their character.
the audience should
believe.
Analyze Rhetorical Devices

Writers use rhetorical devices to achieve their purposes. As you read,
look for examples of these devices King uses.
Rhetorical Devices
Repetition repeats the same word(s) for emphasis.
Parallelism uses similar grammatical constructions to express related or equally important ideas.
It often creates a rhythm.
An extended metaphor is a type of figurative language that makes a lengthy comparison

between two unlike things to emphasize an important idea.
I Have a Dream 465

Get Ready
Here is an example of notes a student made about some of the first lines
of “I Have a Dream.” As you read the speech, highlight rhetorical devices
Dr. King uses.
This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to amazing metaphors—
millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of light and fire—in one
withering injustice. sentence

default Turn to a partner and talk about the vocabulary words

you recognize. Then, write a paragraph describing
desolate what you already know of “I Have a Dream” and Dr.
King’s goals using as many of the vocabulary words as
degenerate
you can.
inextricably As you read the speech, use the definitions in the side
column to help you learn the vocabulary words you
redemptive don’t already know.
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Background
On August 28, 1963, thousands of Americans marched on
Washington, D.C., to urge Congress to pass a civil rights bill.
Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech
on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial before more than
250,000 people. This momentous event was called the March
on Washington. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968) came
from a family of preachers. As pastor of a Baptist Church
in Alabama, King honed his rhetorical skills. Preaching a
philosophy of nonviolence, his leadership helped bring
about the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Awarded
the Nobel Peace Prize, King continued his work for justice
and equality until he was assassinated in 1968.

I Have a Dream
Speech by Martin Luther King Jr.
In this landmark civil rights speech, Reverend NOTICE & NOTE

Martin Luther King Jr. shares his vision of an end
to racism. about the text.
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Nikreates/Alamy
1
as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our
nation.
2 Five score1 years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic
shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation.2 This
momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions
of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering
injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their
captivity.
3 But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free; one ANALYZE ARGUMENTS
hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by
Annotate: Underline King’s
the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination; one claim. Mark details and evidence
hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in in paragraphs 3–5 that support
his claim.
1
five score: 100; score means “twenty.” (This phrasing recalls the beginning of Abraham Analyze: What does King believe
Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address: “Four score and seven years ago . . .”) should happen?
2
Emancipation Proclamation: a document signed by President Lincoln in 1863, during
the Civil War, that freed enslaved people who lived in states still at war with the Union.
I Have a Dream 467

the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity; one hundred years
later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society
Close Read Screencast
and finds himself in exile in his own land.
Listen to a modeled close
read of this text.
4 So we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When
the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the
Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing
a promissory note3 to which every American was to fall heir. This
note was the promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white
men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness.
default 5 It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory
(dΔ-fôlt´) v. to fail to keep a note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of
promise to repay a loan. honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people
a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient
funds.” But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.
We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great
vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so we’ve come to cash this
check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom
and the security of justice.
6 We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of
the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of
cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the
time to make real the promises of democracy; now is the time to rise
desolate from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of
(d≈s´∂-lΔt) adj. unhappy; lonely. racial justice; now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands
of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood; now is the time
to make justice a reality for all of God’s children. It would be fatal for
the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering
summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there
NOTICE & NOTE is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.
EXTREME OR 7 Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those
ABSOLUTE LANGUAGE who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be
When you notice language content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business
that leaves no doubt about the as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until
author’s views, you’ve found an
the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt
Extreme or Absolute Language
signpost.
will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright
day of justice emerges.
Notice & Note: Mark examples

8 But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand
of extreme or absolute language
in paragraph 7.
on the worn threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In
the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of
Infer: Why did Dr. King use this
wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by
language?
drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever
conduct our struggle on the high plain of dignity and discipline.
degenerate We must not allow our creative protests to degenerate into physical
(dΔ-j≈n´∂r-∑t) v. to decline morally. violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of
meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy,
3
promissory note: a written promise to repay a loan.

which has engulfed the Negro community, must not lead us to a Don’t forget to
distrust of all white people. For many of our white brothers, as Notice & Note as you
read the text.
evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that
their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to
realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We
inextricably
cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we
(Δn-≈k´strΔ-k∂-blΠ) adv. in a way
shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. impossible to untangle.
9 There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights,
“When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the
Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality; we
can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue
of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the VOCABULARY
hotels of the cities; we cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic
Antonyms: To determine the
mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one; we can never be
antonym for righteousness, look
satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and the word up in an online or print
robbed of their dignity by signs stating For Whites Only; we cannot thesaurus.
be satisfied as long as the Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a
Analyze: How does the antonym
Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No! help you understand the
No, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until “justice rolls significance of “righteousness” in
down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.” King’s message?
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I Have a Dream 469

10 I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great
trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow
jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for
freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered
by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative
suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is
redemptive redemptive. Go back to Mississippi. Go back to Alabama. Go back
(rΔ-d≈mp´tΔv) adj. causing to South Carolina. Go back to Georgia. Go back to Louisiana. Go
freedom or salvation. back to the slums and ghettos of our Northern cities, knowing that
somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in
the valley of despair.
ANALYZE RHETORICAL 11 I say to you today, my friends, even though we face the
DEVICES difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream
Annotate: Mark the phrase deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day
that is repeated throughout this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed,
paragraphs 11–15. “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created
Connect: How does the meaning equal.” I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons
of this phrase change as King of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to
repeats it? sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one
day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of
injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed
into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little
children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by
the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.
12 I have a dream today!
13 I have a dream that one day down in Alabama—with its vicious
racists, with its Governor having his lips dripping with the words of
interposition and nullification4— one day right there in Alabama,
little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little
white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
NOTICE & NOTE 14 I have a dream today!
QUOTED WORDS 15 I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and
When you notice the author has every hill and mountain shall be made low. The rough places will be
quoted from a well-known text, plain and the crooked places will be made straight, “and the glory of
you’ve found a Quoted Words the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.”
signpost.
16 This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with.
Notice & Note: Mark the With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a
quotation Dr. King uses in stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling
paragraph 15.
discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.
Analyze: What is he quoting With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together,
from? Why is this effective? to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom
together, knowing that we will be free one day. And this will be the
day. This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing
4
Governor . . . nullification: Rejecting a federal order to desegregate the University of
Alabama, Governor George Wallace claimed that the principle of nullification (a state’s
alleged right to refuse a federal law) allowed him to resist federal “interposition,” or
interference, in state affairs.

Don’t forget to
Notice & Note as you
read the text.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©kropic1/Shutterstock
with new meaning, “My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of
thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrims’ pride,
from every mountainside, let freedom ring.” And if America is to be a
great nation, this must become true.
I Have a Dream 471

ANALYZE RHETORICAL 17 So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New
DEVICES Hampshire; let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of
Annotate: Mark the extended New York; let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of
metaphor King uses in paragraphs Pennsylvania; let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of
16–17, including details that Colorado; let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.
develop it.
But not only that. Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia;
Interpret: Explain Dr. King’s let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee; let freedom
vision in your own words. ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. “From every
mountainside, let freedom ring.”
18 And when this happens, and when we allow freedom to ring,
when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every
state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all
of God’s children—black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles,
Protestants and Catholics—will be able to join hands and sing in the
words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last. Free at last. Thank God
Almighty, we are free at last.”
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Nikreates/Alamy

Can each of us find
Which parts of the speech did you find the most inspiring? With a
freedom?
partner, discuss how Dr. King uses words and phrases to support
his argument. Cite specific text evidence from the speech in your
discussion. Review your notes and
Response Log.
Assessment Practice
1. This question has two parts. First answer Part A. Then, answer Part B.
Part A
Which sentence states the purpose of Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech?
A to celebrate the end of slavery and oppression of African Americans
B to describe his dreams and interpret them for his audience
C to give a lecture about the Emancipation Proclamation
D to urge all people to peacefully work together for racial equality
Part B
Select the sentence that best supports the purpose in Part A.
A “. . . the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds
himself in exile in his own land.” (paragraph 3)
B “There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is
granted his citizenship rights.” (paragraph 7)
C “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of
bitterness and hatred.” (paragraph 8)
D “I say to you today . . . even though we face the difficulties of today and
tomorrow, I still have a dream.” (paragraph 11)
2. How does the metaphor of the check in paragraph 5 contribute to the

development of King’s ideas?
A by giving an example of poverty in King’s community
B by persuading demonstrators that they should avoid banks
C by explaining that America must keep its promise of freedom for all people
D by asking the government to provide more financial assistance for African

Americans
I Have a Dream 473

Respond
Analyze the Text

1 IDENTIFY The central point of an argument is the claim. What is King’s

NOTICE & NOTE
claim in this speech? What evidence does he cite to support his claim?
Review what
Claim Evidence you noticed and
noted as you
read the text. Your
annotations can
help you answer
these questions.
2 ANALYZE How does King structure, or organize, his speech? Explain how
each section integrates his ideas and advances his argument.
3 ANALYZE Find examples of parallelism in paragraph 6. What effect does

the parallel structure create? What point is King emphasizing?
4 ASSESS Review the examples of repetition you noted in the chart on the
Get Ready page. Explain why these words or phrases are important and
how they advance King’s argument.
5 CRITIQUE Explain how King uses Extreme or Absolute Language to

persuade his audience. Give at least two examples. Do you think he uses
this technique effectively? Explain.
6 INTERPRET An allusion is an indirect reference to something that the

audience is expected to know. In his speech, King makes more than one
allusion to the Declaration of Independence. Identify the allusions and
explain how they advance King’s argument.
7 EVALUATE King uses an extended metaphor to compare a familiar

object—a bad check—to an abstract idea. How does King develop this
figurative language? What does he believe was promised to African
Americans? How has America given to African Americans “a blank check”?
8 ANALYZE King uses Quoted Words from several sources. Find at least
two quotations besides the one in paragraph 15. Identify the source of
each quotation and explain how it strengthens King’s argument.

Respond
Choices
Here are some other ways to demonstrate your understanding of the
ideas in this lesson.
Writing
As you write and discuss,
Current Events Blog Posts be sure to use the
In paragraph 9, Dr. King says that people ask civil rights activists, Academic Vocabulary
words.
“When will you be satisfied?” Reread that paragraph and write a
series of blog posts about how King’s main idea in that paragraph decline
applies today.
enable
Check off each task as you complete it:
• Reread the paragraph impose
• Determine the main idea integrate
• Reflect on how King’s question could be answered today reveal
• Cite real-life examples
• Build blog posts
• Cite sources you use
Social & Emotional Learning

Perspective Poll
Media
Consider your reaction to “I Have a
Compare Accounts
Dream.” Now consider how others with
It’s one thing to read a speech, but it’s even better different backgrounds and points of
to listen to it or be an audience member. Find a view have reacted to it. What do King’s
video or audio version of King’s speech. Make a words mean to them? Create a poll to
comparison chart in which you explain what you gauge different people’s reactions. Try
noticed about the audio or video version, and how to get a variety of perspectives from
it is different from what you noticed in the text. different genders, ethnicities, and ages.
Poll teachers, coaches, or family members

as well! Draw conclusions about the
different responses you get, and share
them with classmates.
I Have a Dream 475

Respond

PRACTICE AND APPLY
Answer the following questions in complete sentences, incorporating
the vocabulary words and their meanings.
default desolate degenerate inextricably redemptive
1. Look back at paragraph 5. Why does King say that America has defaulted on its promise?
2. Look back at paragraph 6. In what ways is segregation desolate?
3. Look back at paragraph 8. How is physical violence a good example of how protests
might degenerate?
4. Look back at paragraph 8. How is the freedom of all people inextricably bound together?
5. Look back at paragraph 10. How and why does King use the word redemptive to link the
concepts of freedom and religious faith?
Vocabulary Strategy
Antonyms
Antonyms are words with opposite meanings. Recognizing antonyms Interactive Vocabulary
can help you understand new words. For example, cheerful is an antonym Lesson: Synonyms and
Antonyms
for the vocabulary word desolate. Use an online or print thesaurus to find
antonyms.
PRACTICE AND APPLY

Use a thesaurus to find an antonym for each of the remaining vocabulary
words. Then, write sentences using each antonym.

1. default
2. degenerate
3. inextricably
4. redemptive

Respond

Repetition and Parallelism
Martin Luther King Jr. uses the techniques of
repetition and parallelism to express his ideas.
These patterns emphasize his important ideas and
make his speech flow rhythmically.
Repetition refers to repeated words or phrases.

Sometimes phrases are repeated throughout
a sentence. Other times they are repeated
throughout a paragraph, or between paragraphs.
Writers use repetition to show how ideas are linked.
We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable
horrors of police brutality; we can never be satisfied as long as our bodies,
heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the
highways and the hotels of the cities . . .
Here, Dr. King gives many reasons why “we can never be satisfied.” He links
his reasons together by repeating the same phrase again and again.
Parallelism refers to a similar sentence or phrase structure that is

repeated within a sentence or paragraph. Speakers often use parallelism
to highlight similarities or differences.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and
mountain shall be made low. The rough places will be plain and the crooked
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Tim Cordell/CartoonStock
places will be made straight . . .
Here Dr. King uses parallelism to highlight the contrasts, or differences

in his imagery.
PRACTICE AND APPLY

Review a piece of writing you recently submitted for class. Find two or
three places where you can revise your wording to use the techniques of
repetition or parallelism. Write your revised response below.
I Have a Dream 477

Get Ready
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
Can each of us find
MEDIA
freedom?
from
Interview with John Lewis
Podcast from National Public Radio
Engage Your Brain

You’re about to listen to a podcast about
a group of people who stood up for
themselves and others in order to enact
change. Think of a time you had to stand
up for yourself. What fears or obstacles
did you have to overcome in order to do
so? Share your experience with a partner.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t) ©Gansstock/Shutterstock; (b) ©Taylor Hill/Getty
Background
John Lewis (1940–2020) was one of the “Big Six” civil rights activists
of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, as well as a U.S. Representative
in Congress. Lewis was born in Alabama in 1940, during a time
when segregation was in full force. As a teen, he was inspired by Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. He began college in 1957 and
participated in civil rights marches, helping to plan the March on
Washington in 1963. In 1965, he led the march from Selma, Alabama,
with Hosea Williams and was beaten so badly by state troopers
that his skull was fractured. His actions helped persuade President
Johnson to enact the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The Act was intended
to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented
African Americans from exercising their right to vote. Lewis’s life
in politics was dedicated to voting rights, fighting poverty, and
supporting public education. He created a graphic novel series to
teach young people about the marches for civil rights.
Images

Get Ready
Analyze a Podcast
The purpose of a digital media product or text is usually to
inform, entertain, persuade, or express the feelings or thoughts Focus on Genre
of those who created it. Podcasts are digital audio files Podcast Interview
available on the Internet. They can be downloaded to devices, • centered on a conversation
and listeners can subscribe to series of podcasts. Podcasts are between a host or interviewer
especially suited for sharing personal experiences, often in the and one or more guests
form of audio interviews. • exists in a digital format,
usually as a series of
In a podcast, sound elements and voice narration help convey downloadable files
information, make transitions between segments, and engage • generally intended to entertain
listeners’ interest. and/or inform
Podcasts Digital audio files that can be downloaded from the Internet
Music or other sounds created by singing, playing instruments,

Sound Elements
or using computer-generated tones; creates a mood
Voice Narration The words as well as the expression and quality of voice
Analyze Author’s Purpose

An author’s purpose is his or her reason for writing. People who participate in
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Douglas Graham/CQ-Roll Call Group/Getty Images
interviews also have a purpose. In a podcast interview, the interviewer’s purpose is

to elicit useful information from the interviewee. The interviewee’s purpose may be
to inform, entertain, express thoughts and feelings, or persuade the audience. John
Lewis may have had a specific purpose in agreeing to the interview with NPR. His
knowledge of critical events in American history merits analysis and preservation,
and his interview with Terry Gross helps to ensure that.
A civil rights pioneer

reflects on his lifelong
fight for justice. from Interview
with
John
Lewis
Podcast
Listen to “from Interview
with John Lewis” in your
ebook. Podcast from National Public Radio
Interview with John Lewis 479

Respond
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
Can each of us find
freedom?
Analyze the Podcast
Support your responses with evidence from the podcast.
1 CAUSE/EFFECT The interviewer asks John Lewis about what caused him
to go against his mother’s wishes and get involved in civil rights marches.
What does he say inspired him to organize and march with other activists?
2 ANALYZE What is the interviewer’s purpose as she asks questions of

John Lewis? Describe the approach she takes to get Lewis to share his
story.
3 DRAW CONCLUSIONS What factors motivated John Lewis to fight for

voting rights? Explain why Lewis felt that the risks were worth taking to
change the society he lived in.
4 INTERPRET What does John Lewis mean when he says he focused on

“bringing down those signs”? How does Lewis’s story about listening
to Dr. King talk about activism in Montgomery help you understand his
main goals?
5 ANALYZE John Lewis cites many numbers and statistics in the

interview—estimates of protesting citizens and numbers of cities where
demonstrations were held, for example. How is this information evidence
for a central idea Lewis wants to convey?
6 CITE EVIDENCE What do you think was Lewis’s purpose in agreeing to

be interviewed? Cite evidence from the interview to support your answer.
Lewis’s Purpose for Being Interviewed Evidence from the Interview
1.
2.
3.

Respond
Choices
Writing
Postcards from the March
Imagine you are one of the 250,000 people Research & Reflect
who participated in the 1963 March on
Washington. Write three postcards to John Lewis worked for social change using the
relatives or friends, describing what you principles of civil disobedience. Research how
are seeing, hearing, and feeling. Research other civil rights leaders have used methods
images or oral histories to make your of nonviolent resistance. Consider your
messages vivid and accurate. own ways of dealing with difficult or unfair
situations. How can you apply the principles
you researched to your own life? Capture
your thoughts in a blog, a song, a poem, or a
drawing.
Speaking & Listening As you write and

discuss, be sure to
Panel Discussion
use the Academic
John Lewis was a longtime member of Congress with a Vocabulary words.
long list of civil rights achievements. Using reliable sources,
research Lewis’s many accomplishments and their impact decline
on others. Then, organize a panel to discuss with a small enable

group how John Lewis’s contributions have had an impact
on your own community’s rights and freedoms. impose
• Gather your research and notes about the podcast in a

graphic organizer.
integrate
reveal
• Choose a panel member to write and deliver an
opening statement.
• Follow rules for discussion by listening attentively

while others talk, building on their ideas. Support your
own ideas using your notes.
• After the discussion, write a reflective paragraph about

what you learned.
Interview with John Lewis 481

Get Ready
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
MENTOR TEXT
Can each of us find
from Hidden Figures freedom?
History Writing by Margot Lee Shetterly
Engage Your Brain

Choose one or both of these activities to start Help Not Wanted
connecting with the history text you’re about to read. What do you know about opportunities that
were once closed to African Americans, women,
or other groups? Make a list of jobs a woman or
an African American might not have been able to
apply for in the past.
Liftoff!
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Kirill Cherezov/Alamy

What does it take to get a plane in the air?
With a partner, brainstorm steps to build
an airplane, including design, testing, and
manufacturing. Sketch or make a list of steps.

Get Ready
Analyze Text Structure

Authors use a variety of text structures. These include thesis or main idea
and details; cause and effect; problem and solution; and chronology, or time
order. Most historical texts are a combination of chronology, main idea, and Focus on Genre
cause and effect. History Writing
As you read, keep track of the important events, the order in which they • uses chronological order
happen, any causal relationships, and key ideas. • is a form of informational
text
Text Structures Examples from Hidden Figures

• includes evidence to
support ideas
Chronological, By 1943, the American aircraft industry was the largest,

• contains text features to
help the reader absorb
or narration of most productive, and most sophisticated in the world, and retain information
events
making three times more planes than the Germans,
who were fighting on the other side of the war.
Cause and But in the spring of 1943, with World War II in full swing and many
effect
men off serving in the military . . . employers were beginning to hire
women to do jobs that had once belonged only to men.
Thesis/main The NACA’s mission was . . . to help the United States develop the
ideas
most powerful and efficient airplanes in the world. . . . World leaders
felt that the country that ruled the skies would win the war.
Analyze Word Choice

Authors build meaning through word choice. Word choice, also known as diction,
has a cumulative impact on the tone and meaning of a text. The author of Hidden
Figures creates an informal tone through word choice and by addressing the
audience directly. In contrast, official documents usually use formal language. Here is
part of a U.S. government job offer quoted in a different part of Hidden Figures:
You are hereby appointed Mathematician, Grade P-1, with pay at the rate of $2,000
per annum, for such period of time as your service may be required, but not to
extend beyond the duration of the present war and for six months thereafter.
Fill in the left column of a chart like the one below with words and phrases from the
example that create a particular tone. In the right column, describe that tone. As you
read, continue to note words and the tone they create.
Words That Create Tone What Is the Tone?
hereby formal, serious
Hidden Figures 483

Get Ready
Here are one reader’s notes about a part of the excerpt from Hidden
Figures. As you read, note how text structure features make the content
easier to understand.
A few years earlier, an ad like this would have been time clues—help show
unthinkable—most employers never would have considered a chronology
woman for a job that had always been performed by a man. But
in the spring of 1943, with World War II in full swing and many
men off serving in the military, the country needed all the help
it could get. Employers were beginning to hire women to do jobs
that had once belonged only to men.

simulate Turn to a partner and use at least two of the words

you know to talk about how aircraft are designed
assess
and tested.
maneuver As you read the selection from Hidden Figures, use
the definitions in the side column to help you learn
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic/Getty Images
analytical the vocabulary words you don’t already know.
Background
Before World War II, most women did not work outside
their homes. When the United States entered the war, the
lack of working men created opportunities for women,
including the women written about in Hidden Figures.
Margot Lee Shetterly (b. 1969) grew up in Hampton,
Virginia, near the Langley Research Center. As she began
to learn about the history of African American women
mathematicians at Langley, she researched and then
wrote about them in a bestselling book, which has since
been made into the movie Hidden Figures.

from
Hidden Figures
History Writing by Margot Lee Shetterly
Female African American mathematicians NOTICE & NOTE

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (fg) NASA Langley Research Center; (bg) ©Laborant/

shatter racial and gender barriers to make
critical contributions to the Allied effort during about the text.
World War II.
1
T he newspaper ad caught the attention of many women. It read:
“Reduce your household duties! Women who are not afraid to
roll up their sleeves and do jobs previously filled by men should call
ANALYZE WORD CHOICE
Annotate: Mark an informal

phrase in the ad in paragraph 1.
the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory.”
Evaluate: How does the author’s
2 A few years earlier, an ad like this would have been unthinkable— word choice affect the tone of the
most employers never would have considered a woman for a job ad?
that had always been performed by a man. But in the spring of
1943, with World War II in full swing and many men off serving in
the military, the country needed all the help it could get. Employers
were beginning to hire women to do jobs that had once belonged only
to men.
Shutterstock
3 This particular ad was placed by the National Advisory

Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), a government agency dedicated
to studying the science of flying. The NACA shared a campus
with the US Army Air Corps in Hampton, Virginia, a city in the
southeastern part of the state, next to the Chesapeake Bay.
Hidden Figures 485

NOTICE & NOTE 4 The NACA’s mission was important and unique: to help the
NUMBERS AND STATS United States develop the most powerful and efficient airplanes in
When you notice the use of the world. Airplanes moved military troops, tracked enemies, and
specific quantities or comparisons,
launched bombs. World leaders felt that the country that ruled the
you’ve found a Numbers and
Stats signpost.
skies would win the war. President Franklin D. Roosevelt believed
in the importance of air power, so two years earlier, in 1941, he had
Notice & Note: Mark any
challenged the nation to increase its production of airplanes to fifty
numbers in paragraphs 4 and 5
that tell you about how the United
thousand units a year. At that time, the industry had manufactured
States increased military plane only three thousand planes a year.
production for World War II. 5 The NACA and private industry were up for the challenge. By
Interpret: Why did the author
1943, the American aircraft industry was the largest, most productive,
include these numbers? and most sophisticated in the world, making three times more planes
than the Germans, who were fighting on the other side of the war.
“Victory through Air Power!”
6 Before manufacturers built the airplanes, the designs were
developed, tested, and refined at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical
Laboratory, which was where the NACA had first begun its
simulate operations, in 1917. The engineers created wind tunnels to simulate,
(s∆m´y∂-l∑t) v. to create in a or imitate, different conditions a plane could encounter when flying.
controlled setting conditions similar This helped the engineers to test airplane parts as well as whole
to those a person or machine might
aircraft, examining them for any problems, like air disturbance and
face in the real world.
uneven wing geometry.
assess 7 After that testing, pilots flew the planes, trying to assess how the
(∂-s≈s´) v. to determine the machines handled in the air. Did the aircraft roll unexpectedly? Did
qualities or abilities of something. it stall? Was it hard to guide or maneuver? Making small changes
maneuver to the design added up to a difference in performance. Even tiny
(m∂-n◊´ v∂r) v. to make a series improvements in speed and efficiency multiplied over millions of
of controlled movements. pilot miles added to a difference that could tip the balance of the war.
8 People working at Langley knew that they were doing their part
to win the war. “Victory through air power!” said Henry Reid, the
engineer-in-charge of the Langley Laboratory. And the workers took
their mission to heart.
WANTED: Female Mathematicians
9 Each of the engineers at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical
Laboratory required the support of a number of other workers:
craftsmen to build the airplane models, mechanics to maintain the
test tunnels, and “number crunchers” to process the data that was
collected during the tests. For the engineers, a plane was basically a
complex physics experiment. Physics is the science of matter, energy,
and motion. Physics meant math, and math meant mathematicians.
At the Langley Laboratory, mathematicians meant women.
10 Female mathematicians had been on the job at Langley since
1935. And it didn’t take long for the women to show that they
were just as good or even better at computing than many of the
male engineers. But few of the women were granted the title
“mathematician,” which would have put them on equal footing
with some male employees. Instead, they were classified as
“subprofessionals,” a title that meant they could be paid less.

11 At Langley, the female mathematicians were called “computers.” Don’t forget to
They did the computations to turn the results of the raw data Notice & Note as you
read the text.
gathered by the engineers into a more useful form. Today we think
of computers as machines, but in the 1940s, a computer was just
someone whose job it was to do computations, a flesh-and-blood
woman who was very good with numbers.
12 In 1943, it was difficult for the Langley Laboratory to find as
many qualified women as they needed. A recruiter from the National
Advisory Committee for Aeronautics visited colleges in search of
young women with analytical or mathematical skills. analytical
(√n-∂-l∆t´ ∆-k∂l) adj. able to
The Human Computers analyze, or understand something
13 When the managers couldn’t satisfy the demand with only white by breaking it down into parts.
employees, the government decided to hire African Americans. A
civil rights leader named A. Philip Randolph encouraged President ANALYZE TEXT STRUCTURE
Roosevelt to sign an executive order—a law that ordered the Annotate: In paragraph 13,
desegregation of the federal government and defense industry and sentence 1, mark both the cause
created the Fair Employment Practices Committee. This executive and the effect.
order opened up new and exciting opportunities for African Infer: What does this cause-
Americans, allowing them to work side-by-side with white people and-effect relationship explain
during the war. about the decision to hire
African American women as
mathematicians at Langley?
ghan
Dorothy Vau
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t) NASA; (b) NASA Langley Research Center; (r) NASA;
(bg) ©Laborant/Shutterstock
Katherine Johnson
Mary Jack
son
Hidden Figures 487

ANALYZE WORD CHOICE 14 The federal government also helped create special training classes
Annotate: In paragraph 14, mark at black colleges, where people could learn the skills they would need
the sentences that describe the to be successful in the war jobs. Black newspapers like the Norfolk
result of President Roosevelt’s Journal and Guide published articles telling their readers to apply
executive order. for these new job openings. And there were many applicants! The
Evaluate: How would you applications were not supposed to consider race—a recent law had
describe the tone of this done away with the requirement that the application must include
sentence? What words and a photo—but it wasn’t hard for employers to figure out which job
phrases create this tone? candidates were black. African Americans did not have access to
white colleges and universities, so black applicants came from black
colleges, such as West Virginia State University, Howard University,
Hampton Institute, and Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical & Normal
College. Many of the African-American candidates had years of
teaching experience as well as math and science degrees.
15 Once hired, the black mathematicians were assigned to a separate
work space in the Warehouse Building on the west side of the Langley
campus. The East Area Computers were all white; the West Area
Computers were all black, except for the supervisor and her assistant,
who were white women.
16 There had always been African-American employees at Langley,
but they had worked as janitors, cafeteria workers, mechanic’s
assistants, and groundskeepers. Hiring black mathematicians—that
was something new. For the most part, the engineers welcomed extra
hands, even if those hands were black. The Langley Laboratory was
operating around the clock to test airplanes to be flown by American
soldiers in the war: everyone had a job to do.
17 Hampton, Virginia, where the Langley campus was located, was
very much a southern town. State law and Virginia custom meant
that African Americans did not ride the same buses or eat in the
same cafeterias or use the same bathrooms as whites. The Langley
staff had to prepare for the arrival of the African-American
mathematicians. One of the tasks: creating metal bathroom signs
that read “Colored Girls.”
18 For the black women, the experience of working at a laboratory
offered the chance to do interesting work that would help support
the war effort. Walking into an unfamiliar environment wasn’t easy
for the women of the new West Area Computing Office, but each of
them was eager for the opportunity to help their country and prove
that they, too, could be excellent mathematicians.
ESSENTIAL QUESTION: COLLABORATIVE DISCUSSION

Can each of us find If you were an African American female mathematician, would you
freedom?
have signed on to work at Langley Air Force Base? Discuss your
views with a partner.
Response Log.

Assessment Practice
Part A
Which sentence states the central idea of this excerpt from Hidden Figures?
A State segregation laws made hiring African American women difficult.
B The first female mathematicians at Langley were white and were classified as
“subprofessionals.”
C President Franklin Roosevelt believed in air power and its necessity in

supporting the war effort.
D Government research facilities provided important opportunities for female

African American mathematicians.
Part B
Select two sentences that support your answer choice to Part A.
A “President Franklin D. Roosevelt believed in the importance of air power . . . in

1941, he had challenged the nation to increase its production of airplanes to
fifty thousand units a year.” (paragraph 4)
B “But few of the women were granted the title ‘mathematician,’ which would
have put them on equal footing with some male employees.” (paragraph 10)
C “A civil rights leader . . . encouraged President Roosevelt to sign an executive

order—a law that ordered the desegregation . . . and created the Fair
Employment Practices Committee.” (paragraph 13)
D “State law and Virginia custom meant that African Americans did not ride
the same buses or eat in the same cafeterias or use the same bathrooms as
whites.” (paragraph 17)
E “For the black women, the experience of working at a laboratory offered
the chance to do interesting work that would help support the war effort.”
(paragraph 18)
2. How did World War II affect employment opportunities for African American women?
A It created a push to desegregate the military and government agencies.
B It created a booming economy that raised wages and placed a higher value
on female workers.
C It drove the creation of new government agencies that trained and hired
African American men and women.
D It caused factories to move to cities with larger African American populations.
Hidden Figures 489

Respond
Analyze the Text

NOTICE & NOTE

1 INFER Think about the title of the text. What different meanings can you
Review what
identify?
you noticed and
noted as you
read the text. Your
2 CAUSE/EFFECT During the 1940s, women were able to get jobs for the annotations can
first time in many industries. What event caused that to happen? help you answer
these questions.
3 DRAW CONCLUSIONS In paragraph 2, the author uses this extreme

language: “A few years earlier, an ad like this would have been
unthinkable.” How does the author’s choice of the word unthinkable
convey people’s attitude toward women in the workplace at the time?
4 ANALYZE What was NACA’s mission? What details support this main idea?
5 INFER From the information in paragraph 10, what inferences can you
draw about attitudes toward women at Langley? From the information
in paragraphs 15 and 16, what inferences can you draw about attitudes
toward African Americans at Langley?
My Inferences Author’s Word Choices That Support My Inferences
About attitudes at Langley

toward women
About attitudes at Langley

toward African Americans
6 SYNTHESIZE Review the notes you made on the Get Ready page about
tone. Then choose just one or two words you would you use to summarize
the overall tone of the text. Give specific examples to support your
responses.
7 CITE EVIDENCE In paragraph 9, the author writes, “For the engineers,

a plane was basically a complex physics experiment.” How does the
description of developing and testing aircraft support this statement?
8 EVALUATE Examine the photos that accompany the text. How do they
contribute to your understanding of the topic?

Respond
Choices
Writing
Film Analysis be sure to use the
Watch the film Hidden Figures. As you view the movie, take notes Academic Vocabulary
words.
about the differences between it and the text you read. Then
write an analysis comparing the topics, ideas, and point of view. decline
Describe how the movie enhanced your understanding of the
events described in the text, citing specific examples. Compare enable
your analysis with those of your classmates.
impose
integrate
reveal
Media
Social Media Profile
Create a social media profile for one of the
women whose photo appears on page 487.
Consult authoritative outside sources to Speaking & Listening
gather information about her Research and Report
• early life During World War II, more and more women
• education were entering the workplace to replace men
• contributions to science and other

away at war. Research the topic, including
accomplishments • jobs and industries where women most
commonly took the place of men
Include posts or images on your social
media profile. Cite any referenced sources • attitudes and reactions to women taking jobs
traditionally filled by men
appropriately.
• how women of color were treated differently
from white women
Report your findings to a small group. Discuss

the similarities and differences in what each of
you found.
Hidden Figures 491

Respond

PRACTICE AND APPLY
Work with a partner to write the dialogue for a brief scene that depicts the meaning of but
does not mention each vocabulary word. Then swap your scene with another pair. Pairs will
then analyze each other’s scenes and identify the word that is being conveyed in each one.
Here are some ideas:
• a character simulating something
• a character assessing a situation or another character
• a character maneuvering through a difficult space
• a situation requiring analytical thinking
Vocabulary Strategy
Reference Sources
Interactive Vocabulary
When you read an informational text, looking up words or terms in Lesson: Using Reference
print and digital reference sources such as dictionaries, glossaries, or Sources
thesauruses can help you better understand the text. These resources
help you clarify and validate your understanding of technical vocabulary.
Reference sources can be used along with context clues. Here is a

sentence from the selection:
The engineers created wind tunnels to simulate, or imitate,

different conditions a plane could encounter when flying.
The word “imitate” and the context of “wind tunnels” and “different
conditions” help you get the meaning of the word simulate. When you
look the word up in a reference source to confirm the meaning, you may
see a specific technical definition of the word. This will help clarify your
understanding of the word’s use in the text.
simulate v. (s∆m´y∂-l∑t) to produce the features of an event or

process in a way that seems real but is not, usually for training or
testing purposes.
PRACTICE AND APPLY

The words below are used in Hidden Figures. Look them up in a dictionary,
glossary, or thesaurus, using context clues from the text to select the
appropriate definition. Write the definition that fits the sentence.
1. refined (paragraph 6) 3. performance (paragraph 7)
2. engineers (paragraph 6) 4. process (paragraph 9)

Respond

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
Pronouns take the place of nouns so that speakers and writers can
avoid sounding repetitious. Pronouns can also make sentences clearer,
but only if they agree with the nouns they replace—their antecedents.
A singular noun replaces a singular pronoun, and a plural noun replaces

a plural pronoun. There are usually words, phrases, or even clauses
between the antecedent and the pronoun, and those can sometimes
be confusing. But you can simply look for the noun that the pronoun
replaces and match the number of that noun.
Here are some examples of pronoun-antecedent agreement from

Hidden Figures:
• These pronouns are separated from their antecedents by phrases and

are in a new clause.
People working at Langley knew that they were doing

their part to win the war.
• This pronoun is in a new clause.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt believed in the

importance of air power, so two years earlier, in 1941,
he had challenged the nation to increase its production
of airplanes to fifty thousand units a year.
• This pronoun is in a new sentence.

Interactive Grammar
Lesson: Pronoun-
Did the aircraft roll unexpectedly? Did it stall? Antecedent Agreement
PRACTICE AND APPLY

Write a paragraph about the female mathematicians described in Hidden
Figures. Use at least three pronouns in your paragraph. Make sure that
they agree with their antecedents.
Hidden Figures 493

Get Ready
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
Can each of us find
Booker T. and W.E.B. freedom?
Poem by Dudley Randall
Engage Your Brain

No Common Ground
Choose one or both of these activities to start
The poem you are about to read depicts an imaginary
connecting with the poem you are about to read.
conversation between Booker T. Washington
(1856–1915) and W.E.B. Du Bois (1868–1963), two
men who had very different ideas about what African
Americans should do to improve their lives in the
late 19th and early 20th centuries. How much do you
already know about these men? What questions do
you have about them?
You Say Yes, I Say No

Booker T. Washington W.E.B. Du Bois
Have you been in a situation where
What I Know: What I Know:
you and someone else disagreed about
everything you tried to talk about?
Discuss with a partner, or sketch images
that represent your thoughts and feelings. What I Want to Know: What I Want to Know:
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©fizkes/Shutterstock

Get Ready
Analyze Narrator Perspective

In literary works, authors use a device called a narrator. The narrator
of a work is the character or voice that relates events or ideas to the Focus on Genre
reader. The narrative perspective is the point of view of that narrator.
Poetry
“Booker T. and W.E.B.” has two narrators, with very different
• includes imagery that appeals
perspectives. As you read, mark where the narrative perspective shifts to the senses
from one man to the other. • includes sound devices such as
rhyme, alliteration, assonance,
consonance, and repetition
• creates a mood
• expresses a theme, or message
about life
Analyze Poetic Language

“Booker T. and W.E.B.” is an imaginary debate between two early leaders of
the African American community. The leaders’ conflicting perspectives are
revealed through dialogue, as they attempt to change each other’s mind.
The poet employs several techniques to express how they argue their points.
Diction includes the poet’s choice of words as well as syntax—the way of

arranging words in sentences. Diction may be formal or informal. Readers
should pay close attention to a poet’s word choice and syntax, and notice
the mood and tone they create.
An idiom is an expression whose meaning differs from the actual

meaning of the words. For example, “bought the farm” is an idiom that
means someone has died.
Understatement, or meiosis, is the technique of deliberately making

a subject seem less important than it really is. Using understatement, a
topic or idea is described with less force than expected. Understatement
can allow an interaction to remain polite, despite the intensity of the
disagreement.
As you read, use the chart to record examples of diction, idiom, and
understatement. Think about how these techniques contribute to the
tone, or attitude, of each speaker.
Devices Examples and Effects
Diction
Idiom
Understatement (meiosis)
Booker T. and W.E.B. 495

Get Ready
Here are one reader’s notes about the first stanza of “Booker T. and W.E.B.” As
you read, note each speaker’s diction and use of idiom and understatement.
“It seems to me,” said Booker T., “mighty lot of cheek” (idiom?) makes
“It shows a mighty lot of cheek W.E.B.’s ideas sound wrong-headed.
To study chemistry and Greek
When Mister Charlie needs a hand
To hoe the cotton on his land,
And when Miss Ann looks for a cook,
Why stick your nose inside a book?”
Background
Dudley Randall (1914–2000) grew up in Detroit, Michigan. In
1981, he was named poet laureate of Detroit. In this poem, Randall
depicts the title characters’ clash over the path to equality for
African Americans. Booker T. Washington believed that African
Americans should work hard and save money to earn the equality
they deserved. W.E.B. Du Bois advocated agitation and protest to
demand equal treatment. Their dispute split the Black community
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Detroit Free Press/ZUMA Press Inc/Alamy
into a “conservative” side that supported Washington and a “radical”
side that supported Du Bois.

Booker T.
and W.E.B.
Poem by Dudley Randall
Two prominent African American thinkers face off NOTICE & NOTE
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©utah778/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images

in this imaginary debate.
about the text.
(Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois)

“It seems to me,” said Booker T.,
“It shows a mighty lot of cheek1
To study chemistry and Greek
When Mister Charlie needs a hand
5 To hoe the cotton on his land,
And when Miss Ann looks for a cook,
Why stick your nose inside a book?”
ANALYZE POETIC LANGUAGE
“I don’t agree,” said W.E.B., Annotate: In line 11, mark the

way W.E.B. refers to the people
“If I should have the drive to seek
Booker T. calls “Mister Charlie” and
10 Knowledge of chemistry or Greek, “Miss Ann” in the first stanza.
I’ll do it. Charles and Miss can look
Interpret: Why do the two men
Another place for hand or cook.
refer to these people in different
Some men rejoice in skill of hand, ways? What does this reveal about
And some in cultivating land, the men and the way they see
themselves in relation to others?
1
cheek: rude or impertinent boldness; disrespect.

Booker T. Washington W.E.B. Du Bois
15 But there are others who maintain

The right to cultivate the brain.”
ANALYZE NARRATOR “It seems to me,” said Booker T.,
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (l) ©Everett Historical/Shutterstock; (r) Library of
PERSPECTIVE “That all you folks have missed the boat
Annotate: In lines 17–23, mark Who shout about the right to vote,
Booker T.’s advice to people who 20 And spend vain days and sleepless nights
share W.E.B.’s perspective. In uproar over civil rights.
Analyze: What is Booker T.’s Just keep your mouths shut, do not grouse,
perspective on the path to But work, and save, and buy a house.”
equality for African Americans?
“I don’t agree,” said W.E.B.,

Congress Prints & Photographs Division [LC-DIG-ggbain-07]
25 “For what can property avail

If dignity and justice fail?
Unless you help to make the laws,
They’ll steal your house with trumped-up clause.
A rope’s as tight, a fire as hot,
30 No matter how much cash you’ve got.
Speak soft, and try your little plan,
But as for me, I’ll be a man.”
“It seems to me,” said Booker T.—
“I don’t agree,”
35 Said W.E.B.

COLLABORATE AND COMPARE ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
Do you side with Booker T. or W.E.B.? Discuss with a partner. Can each of us find
freedom?

Response Log.
Assessment Practice
1. This question has two parts. First answer Part A. Then, answer Part B.
Part A
What opinion of civil rights protesters is expressed by Booker T. in the poem?
A They are too proud to explain their views effectively.
B They are not doing enough in their fight for equality.
C They do not understand the civil rights laws.
D They are wasting their time by protesting.
Part B
Select two details that support the answer to Part A.
A “It shows a mighty lot of cheek / To study chemistry and Greek . . .” (lines 2–3)
B “Why stick your nose inside a book?” (line 7)
C “That all you folks have missed the boat / Who shout about the right to vote”
(lines 18–19)
D “And spend vain days and sleepless nights / In uproar over civil
rights . . .” (lines 20–21)
E “But work, and save, and buy a house.” (line 23)

2. Which paraphrase of lines 31–32 most accurately expresses W.E.B.’s perspective?
A You can be timid, but I will keep fighting for equality.
B Your plan is insignificant, but mine will be famous.
C You are too soft-spoken to win an argument with me.
D Your quiet approach is only appropriate for children.

Respond
Analyze the Text

NOTICE & NOTE

1 ANALYZE Reread and paraphrase line 2, focusing on the word cheek. What does
Review what
Booker T.’s choice of that word suggest to you about his opinion of W.E.B.?
you noticed and
noted as you
read the text. Your
2 INFER Reread lines 1–7. Who are “Mister Charlie” and “Miss Ann”? How does Booker T. annotations can
think they should be treated? Does his attitude surprise you? Why or why not? help you answer
these questions.
3 DRAW CONCLUSIONS Reread lines 8–11. What are some synonyms you could use in
place of the word drive in line 9? Fill in the word web. What does W.E.B.’s choice of that
word suggest to you about his opinion of Booker T.?
drive
What does the word drive suggest about W.E.B.’s opinion of Booker T.?
4 SYNTHESIZE Review the third and fourth stanzas. How do Booker T’s and W.E.B.’s
perspectives on the fight for civil rights differ? Use evidence from the poem in your
answer.
5 INTERPRET What is the effect of the use of rhyme and the repetition of the phrases “It
seems to me” and “I don’t agree”? What attitude does each phrase convey? How does this
highlight the differences between the men? Use evidence from the poem in your answer.
6 ANALYZE Review examples of understatement, or meiosis, that you noted in the chart
on the Get Ready page. Explain the effect of this device on the poem’s meaning.
7 SYNTHESIZE Reread the poem’s last two lines. How do they humorously sum up the
two narrators’ clashing perspectives?

Respond
Choices
Here are some other ways to demonstrate your understanding of the
ideas in this lesson.
Writing
Research Paper As you write and discuss,
Find out more about the lives and views of Booker T. Washington be sure to use the
Academic Vocabulary
and W.E.B. Du Bois. Work with a partner to research their lives,
words.
influences, and points of view on the issues listed in the chart.
Consult authoritative sources. Use a chart to organize your findings. decline
Issue Booker T. Washington W.E.B. Du Bois enable
Education impose
integrate
Personal
Achievement reveal
Civil Rights
Draft and review your essay with a partner. Cite your sources
appropriately.

Media Group Debate
Image Board
Washington and Du Bois had strong views about how African
Look for other poems by Dudley Americans of their time could make social and economic
Randall and consider their progress. In the poem, they debate the value of education in
subject matter. How are they bringing about social equality. Now it’s your turn to participate
similar to or different from this in a class debate about the issue.
poem? With a partner or small
group, create an image board • Write down your views about whether education can be a
tool for social change. List reasons and evidence for your
on a collaborative platform that views.

shows the different subjects.
Present your board to the class. • Form debate teams. One side should argue that education
is critical for our society to make progress. The other side
Be sure to explain how the
should oppose this argument.
images connect; and share what
you think was Randall’s purpose • During the debate, listen carefully to opposing arguments.
Think about how backgrounds and cultures shape people’s
for writing each poem.
perspectives.
• After the debate, reflect as a group on how opinions may

have changed, or new insights may have been gained as a
result of hearing other perspectives.

Collaborate ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
Can each of us find
& Compare
freedom?
Compare Treatments of a Topic

You’re about to read from a memoir and a graphic memoir about
the experiences of two women in contemporary Iran. As you
read, notice the presentations of the two texts, as well as how the
different genres help the authors share their personal stories. Then,
look for ways that the ideas in the two texts relate to each other.
B
A
f ro m R e a d
ing f ro m
Persepolis
Lolita in
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (l) ©Christopher Furlong/Getty Images News/Getty
The Story 2:
Tehran a Return of
Graphic Me
moir by Ma
rjane
Azar Nafisi Satrapi
Memoir by pages 516–
509
pages 506– 517
After you have read both texts, you will collaborate with a
small group to create a graphic-novel version of the excerpt
from Reading Lolita in Tehran.
You will follow these steps:
• Brainstorm how to recast the text
• Create storyboards
Images
• Discuss what you have learned
• Reflect on your work
502 UNIT 5 COLLABORATE & COMPARE

A Get Ready
from Reading Lolita in Tehran

Memoir by Azar Nafisi
Engage Your Brain

Choose one or both of these activities to start connecting with the
memoir you’re about to read. Men and Women:
Different Rules?
Throughout history and
Iran Today across cultures, women have
experienced different treatment
The texts you are about to read are set in Iran. What do you
and faced different social
know about the country’s culture and politics? What would
expectations than men. With a
you like to know? With a partner, fill in the chart.
small group, discuss ways that
males and females are treated
I know… I wonder… differently in your culture.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Peter Hermes Furian/Shutterstock
Reading Lolita in Tehran 503

Get Ready A
Analyze Rhetorical Devices

Azar Nafisi uses rhetorical questions to engage the audience and
to make a point. Rhetorical questions are questions that no one
is required or expected to answer. Focus on Genre
In the chart, list rhetorical questions in the text together with Memoir
their purpose. • records actual events based on
the writer’s observations
• dependent on the author’s
Rhetorical Question Posed point of view
Purpose
in Text
• looks back at a specific event
or series of events
How can I create this other Nafisi uses the rhetorical • shares the author’s feelings
world outside the room? question to explain why she and what he or she has learned
creates an imaginary scene
involving Sanaz.
Analyze Setting and Purpose

The setting and purpose of a text reveal important information.
As you analyze the effect of setting and purpose in Reading Lolita in
Tehran, consider the following:
• The setting is where a text occurs. Iran requires women to live

according to a specific set of laws that govern their dress and behavior.
• The purpose reflects why an author wrote a text—what she hopes

to communicate. In Reading Lolita in Tehran, Nafisi discusses how
she taught a small group of women in her home in Tehran after she
stopped teaching at an Iranian university.
• The author’s point of view, or how an author thinks or feels about a

subject, also helps a reader analyze the author’s purpose. Azar Nafisi’s
point of view is shaped by her experiences as a woman and a scholar
who once lived under an oppressive regime. These experiences shape
her purpose in terms of the ideas she wants to communicate to the
reader.
As you read the text, make notes about how the writer uses the setting
and point of view to accomplish her purpose and convey her feelings
about her experiences.

A Get Ready
Here are one reader’s notes about the first lines of the excerpt from
Reading Lolita in Tehran. As you read, mark other examples of rhetorical
devices the author uses.
How can I create this other world outside the room? I have A question right off the bat—
no choice but to appeal once again to your imagination. pulls me in!
Let’s imagine one of the girls, say Sanaz, leaving my house
and let us follow her from there to her final destination.
She says her goodbyes and puts on her black robe and scarf
over her orange shirt and jeans, coiling her scarf around
her neck to cover her huge gold earrings.

Turn to a partner and use the vocabulary words you

segregate
already know in a short discussion about conditions
allocate for women in countries where they do not have equal
rights with men.
convert
As you read the excerpt from Reading Lolita in Tehran,
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Kevin Clark/The Washington Post/Getty Images
irrelevant
use the definitions in the side column to learn the
vocabulary words you don’t already know.
Background
The Iranian Revolution in the late 1970s resulted in the overthrow
of the pro-Western Shah of Iran. Iranians established a theocracy,
or religious government, based on the rule of Islam. The new
government passed laws that segregate men and women and that
force women to adhere to an Islamic dress code. Iranian women
are required to wear veils that cover their hair and neck and coats
that cover their arms and legs.
Azar Nafisi (b. 1947), an Iranian, taught English literature in Tehran

from 1979 until 1995. Laws passed after the revolution made
Nafisi’s job difficult. Her university scrutinized novels that she
taught, and she was chastised for not wearing a veil. In 1995, Nafisi
left the university and began teaching a small group of women in
her home, where they were free to discuss books, like Lolita, that
were considered unacceptable by Iranian authorities. In 1997, she
left Iran for the United States, where she now teaches.

A
from
NOTICE & NOTE Reading Lolita
in Tehran
As you read, use the
side margins to make
notes about the text.
Memoir by Azar Nafisi
The author describes conditions her female students face

under a repressive regime in Iran.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Christopher Furlong/Getty Images News/Getty
ANALYZE SETTING AND
PURPOSE
Annotate: Mark passages in

1
H ow can I create this other world outside the room? I have no
choice but to appeal once again to your imagination. Let’s
imagine one of the girls, say Sanaz, leaving my house and let us follow
paragraphs 1 and 2 that discuss her from there to her final destination. She says her goodbyes and
the setting. puts on her black robe and scarf over her orange shirt and jeans,
Respond: What is the setting coiling her scarf around her neck to cover her huge gold earrings.
for this memoir? What do you She directs wayward strands of hair under the scarf, puts her notes
think is the author’s purpose for into her large bag, straps it on over her shoulder and walks out into
writing it?
the hall. She pauses a moment on top of the stairs to put on thin lacy
black gloves to hide her nail polish.
2 We follow Sanaz down the stairs, out the door and into the
street. You might notice that her gait1 and her gestures have changed.
It is in her best interest not to be seen, not be heard or noticed.
She doesn’t walk upright, but bends her head towards the ground
and doesn’t look at passersby. She walks quickly and with a sense
Images
of determination. The streets of Tehran and other Iranian cities

are patrolled by militia, who ride in white Toyota patrols, four
1
gait: manner of walking.

gun-carrying men and women, sometimes followed by a minibus. Don’t forget to
They are called the Blood of God. They patrol the streets to make Notice & Note as you
read the text.
sure that women like Sanaz wear their veils properly, do not wear
makeup, do not walk in public with men who are not their fathers,
brothers or husbands. She will pass slogans on the walls, quotations
from Khomeini2 and a group called the Party of God: MEN WHO
WEAR TIES ARE U.S. LACKEYS.3 VEILING IS A WOMAN’S
PROTECTION. Beside the slogan is a charcoal drawing of a woman:
segregate
her face is featureless and framed by a dark chador.4 MY SISTER, (s≈g´r∆-g∑t) v. to cause people to
GUARD YOUR VEIL. MY BROTHER, GUARD YOUR EYES. be separated based on gender,
3 If she gets on a bus, the seating is segregated. She must enter race, or other factors.
through the rear door and sit in the back seats, allocated to women. allocate
Yet in taxis, which accept as many as five passengers, men and (√l´∂-k∑t) v. to set apart or
women are squeezed together like sardines, as the saying goes, designate for a special purpose.
and the same goes with minibuses, where so many of my students

ANALYZE RHETORICAL
complain of being harassed by bearded and God-fearing men. DEVICES
4 You might well ask, What is Sanaz thinking as she walks the
Annotate: Mark the rhetorical
streets of Tehran? How much does this experience affect her? Most questions in paragraph 5.
probably, she tries to distance her mind as much as possible from her
Respond: What is the effect of
surroundings. Perhaps she is thinking of her brother, or of her distant
these questions?
boyfriend and the time when she will meet him in Turkey. Does she
compare her own situation with her mother’s when she was the same
age? Is she angry that women of her mother’s generation could walk
the streets freely, enjoy the company of the opposite sex, join the
police force, become pilots, live under laws that were among the most
progressive in the world regarding women? Does she feel humiliated
by the new laws, by the fact that after the revolution, the age of
marriage was lowered from eighteen to nine, that stoning became NOTICE & NOTE
once more the punishment for adultery and prostitution? EXTREME OR
5 In the course of nearly two decades, the streets have been turned ABSOLUTE LANGUAGE
into a war zone, where young women who disobey the rules are When you notice language that
hurled into patrol cars, taken to jail, flogged, fined, forced to wash leaves no doubt about a situation,
the toilets and humiliated, and as soon as they leave, they go back you’ve found an Extreme or
and do the same thing. Is she aware, Sanaz, of her own power? Does Absolute Language signpost.
she realize how dangerous she can be when her every stray gesture Notice & Note: Mark examples
is a disturbance to public safety? Does she think how vulnerable the in paragraph 5 of absolute or
Revolutionary Guards are who for over eighteen years have patrolled extreme language.
the streets of Tehran and have had to endure young women like Analyze: Why did the author use
herself, and those of other generations, walking, talking, showing a this language?
strand of hair just to remind them that they have not converted? convert
(k∂n-vûrt´) v. to change one’s
system of beliefs.
2
Khomeini (k∫-m∑´ nΠ): Ruhollah Khomeini (1902–1989), religious and political leader of
Iran after the 1979 revolution.
3
U.S. lackeys: people who serve United States policies. The Iranian government is hostile
to the U.S. because it supported the former Shah of Iran.
4
chador (ch∂´d∂r): a long scarf that covers a Muslim woman’s hair, neck, and shoulders.

6 We have reached Sanaz’s house, where we will leave her on her
doorstep, perhaps to confront her brother on the other side and to
think in her heart of her boyfriend.
7 These girls, my girls, had both a real history and a fabricated one.
Although they came from very different backgrounds, the regime that
ruled them had tried to make their personal identities and histories
irrelevant irrelevant. They were never free of the regime’s definition of them as
(∆r-r≈l´∂-v∂nt) adj. unrelated to the Muslim women.
matter being considered.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Majid Saeedi/Stringer/Getty Images

Can each of us find
Do you think Sanaz has power, as the author states, or is she
freedom?
powerless because of government repression? Discuss with a
partner.
Response Log.
Assessment Practice
1. In the first paragraph, what does the description of Sanaz tell you?
A She openly disobeys laws governing how women in Iran must dress.
B She has more freedom in how she dresses than other women in Iran.
C She is interested in fashion even though she has to cover herself.
D She is more concerned with what people think of her than she is with
following the laws governing women.
Part A
What is meant by the author’s statement in paragraph 7 that

“These girls, my girls, had both a real history and a fabricated one”?
A Young women in Iran are taught a version of history in school that omits any
details of government wrongdoing.
B Women in Iran daydream about doing as they please.

C The regime views them as rule-obeying Muslims, not individuals.
D They read about other cultures to prepare to escape Iran.
Part B
Select the quotation that best supports the answer to Part A.

A “You might notice that her gait and her gestures have changed.” (paragraph 2)
B “Most probably, she tries to distance her mind as much as possible from her
surroundings.” (paragraph 4)
C “In the course of nearly two decades, the streets have been turned into a war
zone . . .” (paragraph 5)
D “. . . the regime that ruled them had tried to make their personal identities
and histories irrelevant.” (paragraph 7)

Respond A
Analyze the Text

NOTICE & NOTE
1 ANALYZE This excerpt opens with a clue to the author’s purpose. What is it? Review what
How does she use details of setting to achieve her purpose? Cite evidence from you noticed and
notes you took as you read the text. noted as you read
the text. Your
annotations can
2 INFER Identify details the author uses to describe Sanaz. Why might the author help you answer
have included these details? these questions.
3 ANALYZE Why might Iranian authorities have imposed such stringent laws on
women?
4 CITE EVIDENCE Review the notes you took on the Get Ready page about
rhetorical questions. In the chart, cite two examples and explain the author’s
purpose in using them.
Rhetorical Question Author’s Purpose
5 DRAW CONCLUSIONS Review the slogans that Sanaz passes. How does the
fact that the author quotes this Extreme or Absolute Language reveal her point
of view?
6 SYNTHESIZE What can you determine about how Sanaz and the other women
in the literature group cope with the laws about their behavior and appearance?
7 INTERPRET In the last paragraph, the author writes, “These girls, my girls,
had both a real history and a fabricated one.” What does she mean by this? Cite
examples from the text.

A Respond
Choices

Journal Entry
Reflect on the restrictions placed on women in Iran. From this be sure to use the
perspective, think about conditions in the United States. Are there Academic Vocabulary
liberties that Americans sometimes take for granted? Write your words.
thoughts in the form of a journal entry. Share with the class if you decline
feel comfortable doing so. How are other class members’ reflections
similar to or different from your own? Add your observations as enable
another journal entry.
impose
integrate
reveal
Media
Timeline
Using authoritative sources, research how
Iranian politics, society, and culture has changed
since 2003, when Nafisi’s memoir was written.
Speaking & Listening
Create a digital or hand-crafted timeline
showing these changes, with images or other Podcast
graphics to illustrate your points. Publish your With a partner, record a podcast in which you
timeline, or present it to a small group. Cite any discuss the following questions:
referenced sources appropriately.
• In what ways do Iranian women today
respond to the restrictions put on them?
• How do you think you would respond if the

United States experienced societal change
as dramatic as Iran’s?
Provide examples to support your ideas during

the discussion, including evidence from the
text. Once finished, take turns listening to
other groups’ podcasts. What similarities and
differences do you notice between podcasts?
Discuss conclusions as a whole class.

Respond A

PRACTICE AND APPLY
Use your understanding of the vocabulary words to answer the
following questions.
segregate allocate convert irrelevant
1. Are your friends’ opinions ever irrelevant? Explain.
2. If your job were to allocate money to the clubs or sports teams at school, how
would you do it?
3. Why might you segregate children according to age?
4. Is someone who believes fiercely in something likely to convert? Explain.
Vocabulary Strategy
Denotative and Connotative Meanings
A word’s denotation is its strict dictionary definition. But many words Interactive Vocabulary
Lesson: Denotation and
have slight nuances or differences in meaning. These nuances, or
Connotation
connotations, have associated meanings and emotions. Nafisi explains
that in Iran, the buses are segregated. The vocabulary word segregate
has a similar denotation to the word separate. They both mean “to set
apart.” But the word segregate has an altogether different connotation.
To segregate suggests separating people or things forcefully, often in an
unfair way.
PRACTICE AND APPLY

For each vocabulary word below, write the word’s denotation. Then write
the connotation of the word as it appears in the selection.
Vocabulary Word Denotation Connotation

allocate
irrelevant
convert

A Respond

Verb Tense
In her memoir, Nafisi alternates between past and present tense, using
each tense in a consistent way. When she uses present tense, Nafisi refers
the reader to the actions taking place in the women’s literature group,
as if they are currently taking place. When the author uses past tense,
she reflects on her time with the women, as well as on the events and
atmosphere of Iran.
She doesn’t walk upright, but bends By using present tense as if the actions are
her head towards the ground and currently taking place, the author creates a more
doesn’t look at passersby. immediate picture of her students.
These girls, my girls, had both a real By using past tense, the author reflects on the
history and a fabricated one. women in the group.
Interactive Grammar
Lesson: Verb Tense
PRACTICE AND APPLY
Locate two additional sentences that use present-tense verbs and two
additional sentences that use past-tense verbs. Write the sentences and
describe how the author uses the verb tenses to make her point.
Present Tense Effect of the Verb Tense
1.
2.
Past Tense Effect of the Verb Tense
3.
4.

Get Ready B
from Persepolis 2:
The Story of a Return
Banned!
Make a list of things you value that a
Engage Your Brain dictatorship or repressive government
could ban, or take away. Your list can
Choose one or more of these activities to start connecting
include items like clothing or digital
with the graphic memoir you are about to read.
technology, certain kinds of music, or
liberties such as freedom of speech.
Change Now! Compare your list with a partner’s and
discuss why you included the items
Throughout history, people have found ways to advocate you did.
for change. Whether it is students hoping to see change
in their schools or citizens protesting against their
governments, people possess the capability to make
changes. With a partner, discuss ways that people have
protested against injustice throughout history.
Thinking About Words

What comes to mind when you hear the words repression
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t) ©Antonina Sotnykova/Shutterstock; (b) ©Allpix/
and dictator? Make a sketch or freewrite your thoughts.
Background
Since the Iranian Revolution of the late 1970s, “morality police” ensure that
people comply with the laws in Iran. Those who do not comply may be taken
Splash News/NewsCom
to the morality police headquarters to be questioned, beaten, or jailed.
Marjane Satrapi (b. 1969) was born in Iran. After the revolution, her parents
sent her to school in Europe. Later, she studied illustration. The first volume
of Persepolis tells the story of Satrapi’s childhood in Iran, and Persepolis 2 tells
the story of her adolescence in Europe and Iran and of her struggle to fit in.
Persepolis, a movie based on both books, has won many awards. Satrapi lives
in Paris.

B Get Ready
Determine Author’s Point of View

Point of view refers to how an author thinks or feels about a
subject. In a memoir, an author uses rhetoric, choosing words Focus on Genre
carefully to advance a point of view. Graphic novelists, however, use Graphic Novel
both graphics and rhetoric to advance their points of view. • uses sequential art to tell a
story in different panels
Title How Point of View Is Conveyed Examples • content can be fiction or
nonfiction
Reading Lolita The author’s perspective as a • phrases such as, • contains text features
in Tehran woman and scholar living under “flogged, fined,
• text appears in captions and in
a repressive regime is shown in forced to wash dialogue and thought balloons
the rhetoric she uses. the toilets and
humiliated”
Persepolis 2 The author tells the story through • the way the main
words and stark black-and-white character’s face is drawn
images. Readers must study • the way the panels are
details in the drawings, as well sequenced, which reflects
as read captions and thought a point of view
bubbles, to understand the
author’s point of view.
Analyze Accounts in Different

Mediums
A personal story can be told using different mediums, or ways of
communicating. Examples of mediums include memoirs, graphic novels,
plays, and films. Each format allows the author to emphasize details that
help to tell his or her story.
Read this sentence from Reading Lolita in Tehran:
They patrol the streets to make sure women like Sanaz wear their
veils properly, do not wear makeup, do not walk in public with
men who are not their fathers, brothers or husbands.
Notice how this memoir is a personal account written from memory

or firsthand knowledge. The writer uses concrete details and sensory
words to help the reader visualize events and people.
In contrast, the middle panel in the second row of Persepolis 2 provides

visuals for the reader to understand the same situation. Readers must
pay attention to the visual details in the drawings and the sequence of
the panels as well as the text to understand the author’s message.
As you read the excerpt from Persepolis 2, make notes about how the
author conveys information through both images and words.
Persepolis 2 515
from
B Persepolis 2: The
Story of a Return
In this graphic novel, people resist harsh government

repression through small acts of rebellion.
DETERMINE
AUTHOR’S POINT
OF VIEW
Annotate: Mark
a panel in which
emotion is shown.
Interpret: How does

the image pair with
the words to show
the author’s point
of view about her
experiences?
ANALYZE
ACCOUNTS IN
DIFFERENT
MEDIUMS
Annotate: Mark
a speech bubble,
a caption, and a
thought bubble.
Analyze: Why
might the author
have chosen to tell

this story using
speech bubbles and
captions—that is, in
graphic form?

Can each of us find
What details in this excerpt surprised you? Discuss with a partner.
freedom?

Response Log.
Assessment Practice
Part A
What is this passage mostly about?
A how the narrator’s mother tried to escape from Iran
B how women tried to educate themselves in Iran
C how women rebelled against oppression in Iran
D how the narrator’s mother is brave even in the face of danger
Part B
Select the sentence that supports the answer to Part A.
A “Between 1980 and 1983, the government had imprisoned and executed
so many high-school and college students that we no longer dared to talk
politics.” (panel 2)
B “To our leaders, the smallest thing could be a subject of subversion.” (panel 4)
C “What’s going on in the political prisons?” (panel 7)
D “Showing your hair or putting on makeup logically became acts of rebellion.”

(panel 8)
2. How does the caption in the second panel add to the reader’s understanding
of the text?
A The factual information explains why the revolution occurred.
B The factual information provides historical background for the text.
C The opinions help explain the author’s point of view.
D The opinions help explain why people demonstrated against

the government.
Persepolis 2 517
Respond B
Analyze the Text

NOTICE & NOTE
1 INFER How does the main character in the graphic memoir feel about any power she Review what
may possess? Does she feel powerful or powerless? Why? you noticed and
noted as you read
the text. Your
2 ANALYZE Look at the second and third panels in the excerpt. How does the author annotations can
use both words and graphics to make a point about how the people’s struggle has help you answer
changed? these questions.
3 INFER The narrator says that she spent an entire day at the committee because of
a pair of red socks. What might red socks have symbolized, or represented, to the
committee?
4 INTERPRET The narrator’s facial expression remains the same in each of the panels.
How would you describe it? How does this visual consistency help reveal the author’s
point of view?
5 DRAW CONCLUSIONS Reread the last row of panels. What is the contrast between
what you would expect the character to focus on, and what she actually pays
attention to? How does this contrast point to the author’s larger message?
What I Would Expect What Actually Happens

B Respond
Choices
Writing
Analysis
The images in graphic novels can convey information that be sure to use the
traditional novels communicate in words. For example, graphic- Academic Vocabulary
novel images can communicate information about characters’ words.
emotions, attitudes, and points of view in addition to what decline
characters look like. Review at least two graphic novels, paying
attention to what is conveyed by the images alone. Then write an enable
analysis in which you discuss what kinds of information the images
impose
communicate, and how that information is conveyed.
integrate
reveal
Media
Graphic Short
Create a graphic short that focuses on one
of these ideas developed in the Persepolis 2
excerpt:
• being subjected to scrutiny Speaking & Listening

Small-Group Debate
• doubting oneself
• questioning rules or authority With a small group, debate the merits of graphic
novels.
• participating in small acts of rebellion
• Should they be considered as important as
Draft a short plot and develop a storyboard that text-only works?
showcases setting, character emotions, and
theme. Have a partner review your work and • Are they an effective way of communicating
information?
make necessary adjustments before creating
your final draft. Once finished, present your Take a stand, supporting your argument with
graphic short to the class. evidence from novels you have read. Consider
other perspectives—making sure everyone is
given an opportunity to speak—and build on
each other’s ideas.
Persepolis 2 519
Respond A B
Compare Treatments
of a Topic
Both Reading Lolita in Tehran and Persepolis 2 discuss life in Iran
following the Iranian Revolution of the 1970s. Even though the texts
address a similar topic, they do so using different genres. Both prose
and graphic novel formats allow the author to communicate her story
to the reader, but only one uses illustrations integrated with text.
In a small group, discuss the common elements in the two selections.

Take notes in the chart below about each author’s purpose, message,
and use of language. On your own, write a few sentences describing
your personal reactions to reading about the same general topic in
two genres. Which genre did you prefer? Why?
A B
Elements Reading Lolita in Tehran Persepolis 2
Author’s purpose
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t) ©Christopher Furlong/Getty Images News/Getty
Author’s message
Use of language
Notes about my reactions to the two selections:

Images

A B Respond
Analyze the Texts

Discuss these questions in your group.
1 CONNECT How is the way the authors communicate with readers similar and different
in the two texts?
2 COMPARE What information is presented in both texts? What details are emphasized in
each account?
3 ANALYZE What is the effect of using language only, as opposed to combining language
and images? Are any aspects of the story gained by using images and/or lost by using
fewer words in a graphic memoir?
4 SYNTHESIZE What have you learned from these two sources about the status of
women in Iran since the Iranian Revolution?
Collaborate and Present

Now your group can continue exploring the ideas in these texts by collaborating to create a
graphic-novel version of the excerpt from Reading Lolita in Tehran. Follow these steps, using
an online collaborative platform if possible.
1 BRAINSTORM Imagine that Nafisi had written her memoir in the form of a graphic
novel. Brainstorm how to recast the selection into a graphic novel. Think about how to
create panels to convey the story.
2 CREATE YOUR STORYBOARDS Create sequential panels to tell Nafisi’s story.
• Illustrate the panels with hand-drawn or computer-generated images.
• Decide how to use speech bubbles, thought bubbles, and captions to convey the
specific activities of the women’s literature group and captions to describe the
setting in Iran.
• Use details from the memoir that you think advance the story.
3 DISCUSS WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED After partners or groups present their graphic
novels to the class, discuss how effectively they convey Nafisi’s message. Communicate
and accept suggestions for improvement in a constructive manner. Think about what
aspects of the excerpt from Reading Lolita in Tehran are emphasized in your graphic
novel. How has the medium shaped the message in each case?
4 REFLECT ON YOUR WORK Evaluate your role in creating the graphic novel and in the
group discussion. Jot down notes about your preparation for and participation in this
activity. What were your main contributions?
Reading Lolita in Tehran/Persepolis 2 521

Reader’s Choice
Continue your exploration of the Essential Question by doing some
independent reading about struggles for freedom. Read the titles and ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
descriptions shown. Then mark the texts that interest you. Can each of us find
freedom?
Short Reads Available on
These texts are available in your ebook. Choose one to read and rate.
Then defend your rating to the class.
The Prisoner Who Wore Reforming the World

We Wear the Mask from America’s Women
Glasses
Poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar History Writing by Gail Collins
Short Story by Bessie Head
The poem’s speaker conceals great A political prisoner combines Middle-class women become
pain under “the mask” that “lies.” cleverness and courage to get the radicalized as they fight for equality
best of a brutal overseer. and the right to vote.
Rate It Rate It
Rate It
(tc) ©Stephen Derr/Photographer’s Choice/Getty Images; (tr) Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division;
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©Daily Record/Mirrorpix/Getty Images;
(bl) ©ALEXANDER JOE/AFP/Getty Images; (br) ©Everett Collection Inc/Alamy Images
from Long Walk to Eulogy for Martin

Freedom Luther King Jr.
Memoir by Nelson Mandela Speech by Robert F. Kennedy
Nelson Mandela shows fearlessness Robert F. Kennedy, as presidential

and humility as he devotes his life candidate, delivers news that
to ending apartheid in South Africa. shocks the world.
Rate It
Rate It
522 UNIT 5 READER’S CHOICE

Reader’s Choice
Long Reads
Here are three recommended books that connect to this unit topic.
For additional options, ask your teacher, school librarian, or peers.
Which titles spark your interest?
Long Walk to Freedom Goodbye, Vietnam March

Memoir by Nelson Mandela Novel by Gloria Whelan Graphic Memoir by John Lewis
Nelson Mandela recounts his lifelong When Vietnamese government In this graphic memoir, see how
fight for human rights and racial soldiers start apprehending citizens, Congressional Representative John
equality in South Africa. Jailed for Mai’s family decides to flee to Hong Lewis’s life as a civil rights activist
decades because of his efforts to free Kong. They endure harsh conditions started. Protesting beside Martin
others from oppression, Mandela was on crowded boats to escape the Luther King Jr., Lewis helped change
eventually released and awarded the brutality of their home country. our nation, facing dangers and
Nobel Peace Prize. oppression while doing so.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (l) ©Media24/Gallo Images/Hulton Archive/Getty
Extension
Connect & Create
NOTICE & NOTE
TALKING ABOUT FREEDOM The title of this unit, Freedom at All
• Pick one of the texts and
Images; (c) ©ITPhoto/Alamy; (r) ©Francis Miller/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Costs, suggests that sacrifice or hardship may be necessary to win

annotate the Notice & Note
liberty. Is this true? If so, what are the sacrifices? Write three or four
signposts you find.
journal entries where a character in one of the texts reflects on this
question. • Then, use the Notice &
Note Writing Frames
IMAGE BOARD Create an image board that reflects the subject, to help you write about
characters, or theme of the text you read. the significance of the
1. Decide what images you want to include. signposts.
2. Include photos and/or illustrations that show settings, characters, • Compare your findings with
those of other students who
events, or situations described in the text. If you like, include your
read the same text.
own artwork.
3. Write captions describing how each image connects to the text.
Notice & Note Writing
Share your finished product with the class.
Frames
Reader’s Choice 523

Write a Research
Report
Writing Prompt
Using ideas, information, and examples from multiple
texts in this unit, write a research report about how a
person or group of people overcame oppression by
Review the
fighting for change. Mentor Texts
Manage your time carefully so that you can For an example of a well-written
• review the texts in the unit;

research report you can use as a
mentor text and source for your essay,
• plan your report;
review:
• write your report;
••from Hidden Figures (pages
• revise and edit your report.
485–489).
Be sure to
Make sure to carefully review your
• organize your ideas clearly; notes and annotations about this text.
• use evidence from multiple sources; Think about the techniques the author
• write with a formal, objective tone; used to present information in an
• end with a strong conclusion. interesting way.
Consider Your Sources

Review your list of texts in the unit and choose UNIT 5 SOURCES
at least three that you may want to use as a
source of ideas or evidence for your report. Harrison Bergeron
As you review sources, consult the notes you I Have a Dream

made on your Response Log. Make additional
notes about any ideas or facts that might be from Interview with John Lewis MEDIA
useful to use in your research report. Include

from Hidden Figures
source titles and page numbers in your notes to
help you provide accurate citations when you Booker T. and W.E.B.
include facts or ideas from these texts. MEDIA
from Reading Lolita in Tehran
from Persepolis 2:
The Story of a Return
524 UNIT 5 WRITING TASK

Writing Task
Analyze the Prompt

Consider Your Audience
Review the prompt to make sure you understand the assignment.
Think about the following:
1. Mark the sentence in the prompt that identifies the topic of your
research report. Rephrase this sentence in your own words.
••Who will read my report?
2. Next, look for words that indicate the audience and purpose of your
••What do my readers already
know about the topic?
essay, and write a sentence describing each.
••What facts will interest my
audience most?
What is my writing task?
What topics might work?
What is my purpose?
Who is my audience?
Review the Rubric

Your research report will be scored using a rubric. As you write, focus on the
characteristics as described in the chart. You will learn more about these
characteristics as you work through the lesson.
Purpose, Focus, and

Evidence and Elaboration Conventions of Standard English
Organization
The response includes: The response includes: The response may include:
•• Acontrolling
strongly maintained •• Effective use of evidence and sources •• Some minor errors in usage but
idea
•• Effective use of elaboration no patterns of errors
•• Use
ideas
of transitions to connect
•• Clear and effective expression •• Correct punctuation,
capitalization, sentence
of ideas
•• Logical progression of ideas •• Appropriate vocabulary
formation, and spelling
•• Appropriate style and tone •• Varied sentence structure •• Command of basic conventions
Write a Research Report 525
Writing Task
1 PLAN YOUR RESEARCH REPORT Help with Planning

Consult Interactive Writing
Lesson: Conducting Research.
Research Your Topic
As you research, narrow the topic to focus on one specific
person or group in the struggle for freedom. Your topic should
Consider Your Topics
be developed with well-chosen, relevant, and interesting Potential topics might include:
support. This support may take many forms:
•• Jim
African Americans living in the
• quotations from well-known people Crow South
• stories or anecdotes •• scientists

Female mathematicians or
• concrete details, such as numbers, years, or descriptions

workplaces
at NASA or other
• definitions, including explanations of key vocabulary terms

•• The U.S. Civil Rights Movement
Use the chart to gather information about your topic.
•• Racial segregation in U.S. schools
• Keep track of your sources, including page numbers, so you
can cite them in your report.
•• Women in Iran
• Choose reliable and credible sources. If possible, confirm
•• Booker T. Washington
facts in more than one source. •• W.E.B. Du Bois
• Use the advanced search function in search engines to •• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
obtain specific research. •• Groups affected by censorship
My Topic:
Quotation, Concrete Detail, Relevance to My Topic Source

Fact, Story, or Definition
Write a Thesis Statement

A strong thesis statement clearly expresses, in one or two sentences, the main idea of
your report. Make sure your thesis statement mentions the group or person you are
focusing on, how they were oppressed, and how they fought back.
My Thesis Statement:

Writing Task
Develop Ideas and Support

After you research your topic, you will identify and organize Conduct Effective Research
information that supports your thesis.
•• Consider using advanced search
Develop three main ideas in the chart below. Each main idea will functions on search engines to
become a body paragraph that includes details, quotations, stories, identify specific research.
or definitions. Add notes on any support that you will include in each
body paragraph.
•• toRemember that you do not need
include in your report all of the
information you learned in your
research. Instead, choose the most
Main Idea 1:
significant facts and examples that
support your thesis.
•• Think about how you will integrate

information from your research
Main Idea 2: into your report so that one idea
flows smoothly to the next.
Main Idea 3:
Organize Ideas Create Structure
Decide how to structure your report. Organize the facts and ideas in your
body paragraphs so that they are
not repetitive. Each body paragraph
INTRODUCTION •• Catch the attention of your audience and
show them why they should care about the
should focus on a separate idea and
include details, stories, or quotations
topic. that support that idea. Make sure
•• Start with a question, quote, story, or detail
about your topic.
each idea leads logically to the next.
•• Clearly state your thesis at the end of your

introduction.
BODY PARAGRAPHS •• Present main ideas that support your thesis.

•• Write a paragraph about each main idea.

•• Use supporting details to develop each main idea.
•• Use transitions to show relationships between ideas.
•• Include vivid words, facts, and descriptions to make your report
interesting.
•• Cite your sources to avoid plagiarism.

CONCLUSION •• Restate your thesis and tell why it is significant or meaningful.
•• Add something new for the reader to think about, such as a quote
or a story.

Writing Task
2 DEVELOP A DRAFT
Drafting Online
Now it is time to draft your research report. Examine how
Check your assignment list
professional authors organize their research into an interesting, for a writing task from your
coherent report. You may use similar techniques in your own writing. teacher.
Explain a Main Idea

EXAMINE THE MENTOR TEXT
Notice how Margot Lee Shetterly, the author of Hidden Figures,
explains why World War II created a need for female scientists and
engineers.
The author introduces the A few years earlier, an ad like this would have been
main idea. unthinkable —most employers never would have
She includes specific
considered a woman for a job that had always been details to help the
performed by a man. But in the spring of 1943, with reader to understand
the timeline.
She explains a World War II in full swing and many men off serving in
cause-and-effect
relationship. Women were
the military, the country needed all the help it could get.
needed at NACA because Employers were beginning to hire women to do jobs that
She restates
many men were at war. had once belonged only to men. the main idea
and explains the
implications.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (fg) NASA Langley Research Center; (bg) ©Laborant/
Use Transitions
APPLY TO YOUR DRAFT Transitions show the reader how ideas
Use this chart to practice writing a body paragraph. are related. Examples are: so, in fact, but,
however, in addition to, after, before.
Topic Sentence
Use your topic sentence to introduce the
main idea.
Sentences with Supporting Details

Your details may include facts, quotations, or
definitions that add depth to your main idea.
Concluding Sentence
Restate your main idea and tell about its
Shutterstock
significance.

Writing Task
Use Precise Language and Tone

EXAMINE THE MENTOR TEXT
In Hidden Figures, Margot Lee Shetterly uses precise language and
scientific vocabulary, helping her create an authoritative tone.
The author uses

World leaders felt that the country that ruled the
language from the time
to explain why airplanes skies would win the war. President Franklin D.
were so important Roosevelt believed in the importance of air power,
during the war.
so two years earlier, in 1941, he had challenged the
nation to increase its production of airplanes to
She uses technical fifty thousand units a year….
and scientific words
to discuss airplane The NACA and private industry were up for the The author states her
idea with a confident,
production. challenge. By 1943, the American aircraft industry precise tone and uses
was the largest, most productive, and most specific, descriptive
sophisticated in the world…. words.
APPLY TO YOUR DRAFT

Review your research plan. Identify a portion of your report that will
require using scientific or technical language or language specific to a
time period. Use the chart below to note explanations of terms that may
be unfamiliar to your readers.
Technical, Scientific, or Time Period-Specific Words Definition or Explanation


Writing Task
3 REVISE YOUR RESEARCH REPORT

Even professional writers need to revise their work. Use the guide
Help with Revision
below to help you as you revise your research report.
Find a Peer Review Guide
and Student Models online.
REVISION GUIDE
Ask Yourself Prove It Revise It
Introduction Draw a box around your Add a question, anecdote, or

Does my research report start introduction. quotation to your introduction to
in an interesting way? Does it Highlight your thesis statement. catch your reader’s attention.
include a thesis statement? Revise your thesis until it sounds
strong, clear, and confident.
Body Highlight the main ideas that Revise the body paragraphs to
Does each body paragraph support your thesis. Star ( ) any focus on the main ideas. Delete
include a main idea to support information that does not relate any extraneous information.
my thesis? Do relevant details to the main ideas or your thesis. Add specific details and facts to
support my ideas? Underline relevant details that strengthen your ideas.
support your thesis and main
ideas.
Sources Put a check mark ( ) by each of Add citation information.

Did I cite my sources? your sources.
Transitions Reread your report. Put a check Revise any parts that are unclear.
Do my ideas progress logically mark ( ) by anything that Add transitions to link ideas
throughout the report? Did I use doesn’t flow logically. together.
transitions to link ideas? Circle the transitions between
ideas.
Style and Tone Circle language that is too casual Revise for a formal tone.
Did I write with an appropriate or words your audience may not Define any unfamiliar words.
style and tone for my audience? know.
Conclusion Highlight your concluding Revise your conclusion for clarity.

Did I end with a satisfying statement. Connect it to the introduction.
conclusion that relates to my
introduction?
APPLY TO YOUR DRAFT

Consider the following as you look for opportunities to improve your writing.
• Make sure your work conforms to the guidelines in a style manual provided by
your teacher.
• Check that your main ideas and conclusion are clear and focused.
• Avoid using informal language.

Writing Task
Peer Review in Action

Once you have finished revising you report, you will exchange papers
with a partner in a peer review. During a peer review, you will give
suggestions to improve your partner’s draft.
Read the introduction from a student’s draft, and examine the comments
made by his peer reviewer.
Dr. King: Leader of the Civil Rights Movement

Draft
By Landon Hunter, Oak River High School
I think Martin Luther King Jr. was a very important person in the Civil
Avoid using first
Rights Movement. He fought for equal rights and gave a speech that
person in a formal
is still important today, the “I Have a Dream” speech. He was very
essay. Look for
a better way to influential, and he helped people fight for equal rights and an end to
grab the reader’s segregation. We remember him today with respect and admiration. Your thesis should
attention, such as include main ideas
with a quote or a that tell how
story. Dr. King achieved
his goals.
Now read the revised introduction below. Notice how the writer has
improved his draft by making revisions based on his peer reviewer’s
comments.
Dr. King: Leader of the Civil Rights Movement Much better! Your
Revision
By Landon Hunter, Oak River High School opening catches the
reader’s attention
At the March on Washington 50 years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. right away.
stirred his audience with a powerful vision of racial equality in the
Good job adding United States. The words of his dream still echo in our heads many
a transition years later, but his influence reaches far beyond one speech. Dr.
to link your King was an important voice of the Civil Rights Movement because
thoughts. he used religion, peaceful protest, and powerful words to motivate This thesis is a lot
people to fight for equal rights and an end to segregation. stronger—it’s more
specific and it
references the main
ideas the report will
explore.
APPLY TO YOUR DRAFT

During your peer review, give each other specific suggestions for how you
could make your reports more detailed, relevant, and engaging. Use your
revision guide to help you.
When receiving feedback from your partner, listen attentively and ask
questions to make sure you fully understand the revision suggestions.

Writing Task
4 EDIT YOUR RESEARCH REPORT

Edit your final draft to check for proper use of standard English
conventions and to correct any misspellings or grammatical
Interactive Grammar
errors.
Lesson: Pronoun-
Antecedent Agreement
CHECK FOR PRONOUN-ANTECEDENT AGREEMENT
Choose Pronouns Correctly
The noun that a pronoun replaces is called its antecedent. The
pronoun should agree with, or match, the noun that it replaces. ••The pronoun it should replace
something that is not a person.
• A singular pronoun replaces a singular noun.
••Pay attention to whether the
• A plural pronoun replaces a plural noun. pronoun is a subject or an object
pronoun.
Below are examples of pronoun-antecedent agreement from
Hidden Figures. ••Some pronouns are possessive,
meaning they show ownership.
Pronoun Type Example ••For more information on

pronouns, reference the
Singular Pronouns President Franklin D. Roosevelt guidelines in a style manual
believed in the importance of air provided by your teacher.
power, so two years earlier, in 1941, he
had challenged the nation to increase
its production of airplanes to fifty
thousand units a year.
Plural Pronouns People working at Langley knew that

they were doing their part to win the war.
APPLY TO YOUR DRAFT

Now apply what you’ve learned about pronouns to your own
work.
1. Read your paper aloud.Underline the pronouns in one
paragraph, such as the first paragraph.
2. Highlight the nouns, or antecedents.Check that the
pronouns match the antecedents. Continue as time allows.

3. Exchange draftswith a peer and review pronoun-antecedent
agreement in each other’s work. Ways to Share
••Create a multimedia
presentation for your class.
5 PUBLISH YOUR RESEARCH REPORT ••Create a poster that visually
presents the information in
Share It! your report.
Finalize your report for your writing portfolio. You may also use ••Record a podcast.
your report as inspiration for other projects.

Reflect & Extend
Here are some other ways to show your
understanding of the ideas in Unit 5.
Reflect on the
Essential Question
Project-Based Learning
Can each of us find freedom?
Create a Protest Song
Has your answer to the question changed
after reading the texts in the unit? Discuss With a group of classmates, write and record
your ideas. a protest song addressing an injustice that
concerns you. Here are some questions to
You can use these sentence starters to
ask yourself to get started:
help you reflect on your learning.
• I’m still considering . . .

• What injustice is our song going to
address? Why is this issue important to
• I wasn’t expecting to realize . . . us?
• I still believe . . . • Who is the target audience of our song?
• What themes do we want to express in
our song?
Media Projects
To find help with this task
online, access Create a
Protest Song.
Writing
Write a Poem
Write a poem that explores the idea of freedom or oppression.
Use the chart to jot down ideas. Then, write your poem.
Ask Yourself My Notes
How will I structure my poem?

Who will the speaker be?
What message will my poem express?
Reflect & Extend 533

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Analyze the Image

What freedoms could these people

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Get hooked by the unit topic.

Think About the

Build Academic Vocabulary

What freedoms can

Harrison Bergeron I Have a Dream from Interview with

contributions to the Allied effort during

World War II.

Think Outside the Box

Harrison Bergeron freedom?

Short Story by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Engage Your Brain

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©patpitchaya/Shutterstock

World Gone Dark

450 UNIT 5 ANALYZE & APPLY

Analyze Literary Devices: Irony

Example: “I’m the best

• may state the opposite of

Example: “All the products

Analyze Point of View: Satire

What the Text Says What It Criticizes or Ridicules

Harrison Bergeron 451

Expand Your Vocabulary

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©MediaPunch Inc/Alamy

The destruction and horrors of the Dresden firebombing became the

452 UNIT 5 ANALYZE & APPLY

Harrison Bergeron 453

From George’s reactions to this

454 UNIT 5 ANALYZE & APPLY

him. He should get a nice raise for trying so hard.”

Harrison Bergeron 455

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Maxim Tarasyugin/Shutterstock

456 UNIT 5 ANALYZE & APPLY

removed her mask.

Harrison Bergeron 457

458 UNIT 5 ANALYZE & APPLY

Review your notes and

A He thinks his handicap bag should be even heavier.

B He does not want to cause trouble for himself or others.

C He does not want to cause trouble for Hazel or Harrison.

D He enjoys having a handicap bag instead of a handicap radio.

2. Why is Harrison handicapped so much by the government?

A He has many above-average skills and qualities.

B He has many below-average skills and qualities.

C He is being punished for breaking the law.

D He is going to be the next Handicapper General.

Harrison Bergeron 459

Analyze the Text

3 SUMMARIZE What is the main conflict, or struggle between opposing

4 INFER Reread the story’s ending (paragraphs 83–94). Summarize how

5 EVALUATE Think about the impact television has in the story. Is

Recurring Events, Images, and How They Support the

7 CRITIQUE A writer of satire aims to ridicule or criticize society in the

460 UNIT 5 ANALYZE & APPLY

Writing As you write and discuss,