Author: Clive Rogers

Language and Style: Dashes

Flavors made from natural ingredients–fruits, vegetables, chicken, yeast, and bark–are sometimes considered healthier.

The french fries are delicious–and very fattening.

Flavorists–scientists with trained noses and poetic sensibilities–create the flavor in most of the food we eat.

One remarkable creation–a strip of paper that smelled just like a grilled hamburger–took Schlosser by surprise.

Critical Vocabulary

The cooking oil they use, as well as the progress in manufacturing flavors.

Otherwise the chemicals will evaporate or change.

The amounts are microscopic and much smaller than teaspoons or tablespoons.

It will bring on the chemical process required to create the desired flavors from the original chemicals.

They create as if by magic the flavors that we expect in our foods from chemicals.

Analyzing the Text

Most of the food Americans consumed after WWII is processed, which is bland without any flavoring added. Additionally, after the war most of the European perfume industry moved to New England and switched to producing flavors.

He does this in order to show the scientific and technological wizardry that goes on in labs in just a small sector of the country.

Although they may contain the same ingredients, what distinguishes natural flavors from artificial ones is how they are made. Schlosser goes into a lot of detail here in order to make sure his readers understand how they have been duped by food companies.

He wants to demonstrate that not only do Burger King’s strawberry milkshakes contain ingredients with names we’ve never even heard of, but the one ingredient they don’t actually have is strawberries!

While it’s true that natural flavors are produced differently from artificial ones, products containing so-called “natural flavors” are not necessarily naturally flavored the way they taste: Flavors may have been added after the fact.

Schlosser wants people to do further research and view the label of “natural flavors” more skeptically.

His overall purpose is educating readers. His writing style is clear, concise, and not terribly formal. It draws the readers in by presenting intriguing information and describing his visit to IFF as though it were a scene in a story.

Analyzing the Text

Although one will not find out about these horrors right away, gradually it is possible to piece together what is going on at the factory. These sentences serve to introduce the readers to the expose that follows.

The imagery is disgusting and horrifying, revealing that Sinclair is appalled that such an esteemed brand has been getting away with such practices.

He means that they were always mixing up some new concoction, rather like alchemists or today’s chemists do, only with assorted animal parts rather than chemicals or elements.

This point of view seems detached and is not overwhelmed by any emotion or opinion on the part of the character. Rather, the story is simply presented as it is and it is up to the reader to draw a conclusion from the information provided.

His topic is the maltreatment of the workers. He communicates, through vivid detail, their tragic fates, as no worker escapes maiming or even death.

They were likely more concerned with what they themselves were eating than with the plight of people who were poor, uneducated, and most likely immigrants. Through writing this book, Sinclair aimed to draw attention not only to the unsanitary conditions for food but the impact those conditions had upon the workers that produced that food.

If he had named a real company and real people, he would have encountered legal trouble. This was a way to expose what was really happening without being sued.

Vocabulary Strategy: Etymology

1. apprehension: definition: fear or anxiety; origin word: (Latin) apprehendere: to seize upon; suffix: -ion (makes nouns out of verbs) 2. imperative: of great importance, essential; Origin: (Latin) imperare: to command; suffix: -ive (makes adjectives) 3. extremity: the outermost or farthest point of portion; Origin: (Latin) extremus: utmost

“She was filled with ap>“It was imp>“The cold began to hurt her extremities.”

It helps us understand the barest form of its meaning, and so we can branch off from there (to add meaning). Other words that end in -ion include, conclusion, situation, decapitation. Other words that end in -ive include, supportive, creative, conclusive.

Critical Vocabulary

These include determination and perseverance.

You may feel apprehensive before an important exam if tests make you anxious or if you haven’t studied!

This is imperative because, if you do not, you may be seriously injured or even die in a car accident.

If those parts of the country are far away from the capital or center of population, it will be difficult to get soldiers to those furthest reaches of the territory.

Analyzing the Text

One example is, “The man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country. And he had laughed at him!” Here, the man grudgingly admits that he should have paid more attention to the old-timer. Later, around line 270, he appreciates the advice the old-timer gave him. On the next page, he once again dismisses the old-timer, referring to him as “womanish” and thinking he worried too much about the need to travel with a companion in such cold weather. Much, much later in the story, he mumbles that the old-timer was absolutely right after all… and then he dies.

Although the dog obviously doesn’t understand the concept of temperature because it’s an animal, it seems to understand the cold as a much more dangerous entity than the man does. The dog seems much better adapted to the setting because it understands just how dangerous this weather can be.

Including the names of real places such as the Yukon and the Bering Sea establish that this story takes place in our world. Additionally, the descriptions of winter weather, while more brutal than that most students have probably known, lines up with our understanding of what winter is like. Together these details make the story feel like it could really have happened in the not-so-distant past or even now.

The dog becomes another character in the story and serves as a foil (counterpoint) to the man. London’s descriptions serve to contrast the dog’s keen awareness of the dangerous situation with the man’s arrogant and foolish mistakes.

The fact that the “old-timer from Sulphur Creek” has made it to old age shows that it is possible, if difficult, to survive for a very long time in such a place. Additionally, the dog is clearly more fit for such a place than the protagonist, given that he dies but the dog does not. This story shows readers that failure to prepare and remember the advice of others makes them unfit for survival and can only result in death.

London seems to think that the protagonist was doomed from the start. Fate doesn’t appear to play much of a role in this story, but nature’s unpredictability certainly does. With so many hidden springs lying beneath the ice and snow, sooner or later the man was bound to fall through and get into trouble. His chances of actually making it to camp were quite low.

These two themes interact because only the fittest can avoid nature’s pitfalls and make it out of dangerous situations alive and mostly unscathed.

Analyzing the Text

The rhythm rushes readers along, with words one after another and line breaks not in traditional places. Additionally, the abundance of stressed syllables contributions to the feeling of fright as the narrator hurries along.

Religious references include “O star-shaped yonder Bible city,” “tell me, Ezekiel, oh tell me do you see mailed Jehovah coming to deliver me,” and “first stop Mercy and the last Hallelujah.” Religious imagery is appropriate here because these are cultural references that would have been familiar to slaves and would likely have provided them some hope, however small.

“Oh! Susanna” is a minstrel song, which means it would have been performed by white people who wore blackface and mocked African-Americans. Perhaps the author made this allusion in order to symbolize African-Americans reclaiming that song and repurposing it for their own, better uses.

The two speakers are the narrator and Harriet Tubman. The narrator sounds more dramatic and afraid, while Ms. Tubman sounds more pragmatic or matter-of-fact about the whole situation.

The first set of names (lines 53-54) are names given to Harriet Tubman either by others or by the woman herself. The second set of names (55-56) refer to abolitionists both white and black.

Unlike most other lines in this poem, these lines (three couplets) rhyme! Together they read like more traditional poetry that students are probably used to. They are sing-song and a little bit eerie in terms of the theme.

These words and phrases include “they’ll dart underground when you try to catch them” and lines 65 through 71.

“I’m bound for the freedom” means that the slave is in bondage, perhaps literally in chains, because society at this time conceived of black people as suited only for slavery and white people only for freedom. This was considered the natural order of things. “Freedom-bound” means that the narrator is headed toward their freedom, finally. Line 33 is just one example of the multiple meanings of this poem and the way it reveals more and more to the reader they longer they spend analyzing it.

Analyzing the Media

The Emancipation Proclamation led to the “first black northern regiment” in the Civil War, which started in 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation helped the North win the Civil War by allowing black soldiers to fight on their side.

Critical Vocabulary

I completed long homework assignments from four classes in one evening while having the flu.

My friend signed the permission slip for the field trip herself because her parents were at work.

I read every word of the assigned reading carefully before answering the homework questions.

When my family makes deviled eggs, my father boils the eggs, my mother peels the eggs, and I chop the yolks and mix them with mayonnaise so that we can complete dozens more efficiently.

Analyzing the Text

Prior to the railroad, crossing the country was dangerous and could take up to six months. The Gold Rush in California, as well as Americans’ belief in Manifest Destiny fostered a strong desire to create a safer, quicker means of reaching the West Coast. In addition, lawmakers in our nation’s capitol were eager to create a safe means of allowing citizens to travel to, and settle, lands west of Omaha so that those citizens could mine for precious metals and provide an even greater tax base for the United States.

The Central Pacific had a difficult time initially recruiting enough workers for the project. In addition, once the workers began the job, it was difficult to clear the earth and lay the tracks through the Sierra Nevada. Also, the deserts in Nevada and Utah reached temperatures up to 120 degrees, making the work dangerous for the railroad workers.

The author’s purpose is to highlight the accomplishments and contributions of Chinese workers, as well as to point out the challenges, harsh conditions, and discrimination the faced while doing so. She includes examples of the Chinese workers’ idea of making and lowering baskets over the mountains, their knowledge of explosives, detailed descriptions of their work ethic under harsh physical conditions. She shows the discrimination they faced because they were paid less than white workers, white workers’ violence toward them, and their lack of recognition at the railroad completion ceremonies.

The author’s tone toward Chinese workers is symp>
Her tone is also disgusted with regard to the bosses who exploited the Chinese workers and the white workers who treated them badly. For example, she notes that the Chinese workers “out measured” white workers, and they “excelled” at working on the railroad. She quotes the bosses alternately admitting that the Chinese workers were “industrious” and “worked harder for less reward,” but then would call them a “degraded” people who were the “dregs” of Asia. She also noted that bosses “roared” that they would not work with Chinese people, and that the railroad owners were swift and ruthless in their treatment of Chinese workers who asked for better conditions.

She states it was an “unpredictable explosive,” and that others were afraid of working with it. She also notes that many workers died in accidents using it, and that the purpose of this explosive was to “speed up” the process, implying a certain recklessness.

The quotes of the owners and bosses serves to shock the reader a bit and emphasize the discriminatory way these people treated the Chinese. It also shows the hypocrisy of this discrimination when, by their own words, they admit that the Chinese were superior workers.

Homeric suggests a gigantic, historic feat against enormous obstacles. This relates to the general idea of the narrative that the Chinese workers persevered and succeeded despite horrible conditions and degrading discrimination in an almost super heroic manner.

The strike connects with the rest of the narrative by highlighting that the Chinese comported themselves in an admirable way with dignity in a reasonable effort to improve their intolerable conditions. It also hits on the idea that their behavior was better than how white workers would have conducted themselves. It reiterates a central premise that the Chinese workers outperformed white workers, but were treated much worse.

Vocabulary Strategy: The Latin Root ject

reject

eject

subject

project

inject

Critical Vocabulary

She claims this because at no point in the history of the US had women been treated equally to men.

It reveals that men have treated women as second-class citizens.

Major crimes, since women’s rights have been denied to them.

They have no freedom to seek out employment, education, or a high position within their place of worship.

Analyzing the Text

Her claim is that when a group of people feels they have not received equal treatment, they should explain their reasons for desiring change. In this instance, Stanton references the Declaration of Independence to support her argument.

This is an appeal to historical precedent, as well as logos. If men accept the views put forth by the original Declaration, she reasons, they will accept the Declaration of Sentiments since it is modeled after the original’s ideas of liberty and justice for all.

It reveals her argument to be that women are not treated equally in America and therefore must demand that wrongs be righted.

She’s talking about women’s right to vote. She sees this right as an essential part of the “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” that the Declaration of Independence grants to men.

She uses repetition to create a sense of rhythm and drive home her point. Through this repetition, her arguments are stated clearly and are impossible to forget or misinterpret.

One theme is that women’s inability to vote has deprived them from having a say in the day-to-day decisions made by their own country’s government. Another theme is that women are considered to essentially belong to their husbands or fathers. Furthermore, women have limited opportunities with regard to employment, education, and religious communities.

Through repetition, she wraps up her argument and addresses any concerns that may be had – for instance, how women will use “the pulpit and the press” to defend their cause.

Critical Vocabulary

When my dog chewed up my brother’s shoes, my mom described it as a reproach.

An artist might cleave together newspaper, photographs, and the tiny slips of paper inside fortune cookies.

In Lord of the Rings, Frodo was quickened to take action when he learned that the One Ring must be destroyed in order to stop Middle-earth from utter ruin.

Officials might control a crowd’s license by providing security guards at the event where the crowd is expected to gather.

These places include a schoolyard, a prison, and a football stadium.

Analyzing the Text

He is clearly passionate about the subject. His fury at and scorn for America’s hypocrisy are shown through his word choices and his credibility as a prominent abolitionist.

His reputation as a former slave and now as an abolitionist influences the urgency and anger of his speech.

Virginia laws punish disobedient slaves, therefore acknowledging that slaves are “moral, intellectual, and responsible” – that is, they assume black people are just as human as white people are. And if slaves are people and all people are entitled to liberty, than slavery is morally wrong. This is an appeal to logos.

One example is his reference to the Jewish people under Babylonian captivity. This is a powerful use of figurative language because, firstly, most of his listeners would have been familiar with the reference and secondly, it establishes a historical/cultural precedent for his argument that slavery is inhumane. Another example is found toward the end of his speech, when Douglass urges listeners to “go where you may, search where you will, roam though all the monarchies and despotisms of the old world…” Here, his elegant use of figurative language reminds the audience to, once again, look to history for proof, but says so in a more descriptive way than if he’d just said, “Read a history book.”

His literary references not only demonstrate how well-read and educated he is, but provide a frame of reference for the audience that helps him to prove his point. His vocabulary also demonstrates his intelligence, as well as the fact that he has obviously spent a great deal of time thinking and discussing this subject!

Douglass believes his invitation to speak was intended to make the audience of white abolitionists feel good about themselves for including a black person in their celebrations. He questions why he should care about this holiday, since neither liberty nor justice have been extended to him and his fellow African-Americans.

The line “bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy” is a good example of strong connotative language. They describe white Americans’ self-congratulatory feelings toward their own country and serve to make the listener begin to think about the country’s guilt and violence.

Douglass quotes and references concepts from the Declaration to show that, although Americans claim that their country stands for liberty and justice for all, such freedoms have not been extended to all people. For instance, toward the end of the speech he says that (white) Americans claim to denounce tyrants, but themselves behave tyrannically toward those of other races.

Vocabulary Strategy: Pronunciation

clee-shay

seg-way

suh-tull

ker-null

in-dight

ep-it-oh-mee

eye-uhl

sir-kit

sil-oo-ett

ress-pit

Critical Vocabulary

Reading engrosses me because it is my favorite way to spend my free time.

I ventured a controversial opinion in class when I asked the teacher if she could give us more homework. The rest of the class hated me for it!

I deprecated the dinner I attempted to cook, saying that it tasted burnt and salty.

Wringing the last bit of motivation from my soul, I forced myself to work on the dreaded homework assignment because there was a deadline hanging over my head.

Analyzing the Text

The party that “would make war” is the South/Confederacy, while the party that “would accept war” is the North/Union. This sentence sets the tone of the rest of Lincoln’s speech by pointing out that both parties are in some way responsible for this war.

Both sides read the Bible, p>
Ap>
Lincoln highlights similarities in order to make Americans realize the common ground they share. He highlights their differences in order to show the work that must be done if peace is to be finally achieved.

The Emancipation Proclamation, which he signed, officially freed all the slaves in 1863. However, the Civil War unexpectedly continued to rage on, even though the problem that caused it had been solved.

Lincoln is saying that, if it is now time for slavery to end, it must be supposed that God will make both the North and South pay for their role in it through violence and millions of dollars in resources. The violence and wealth echo the violence inflicted on the slaves and the wealth acquired by slaveowners due to the slaves’ work.

Here, Lincoln is telling the country to trust in God. He says that what happens is God’s will and surely there must be a reason for everything.

He uses religious references not only to give a sense of authority to his message, but because his listeners would have been very familiar with the Bible. These references would help them to understand the point he was trying to make.

Here, Lincoln uses repetition and very clearly states what he sees as the country’s goals for the next four years. Through repetition, he drives home the point he is trying to make. The theme, or point he is trying to make, is that everyone must work together if the country is to “bind up its wounds” and achieve lasting peace not only within its own borders but with other countries as well.