English III – Heritage and Multicultural American Identities: Contemporary Voices – Flashcards

Which of the following excerpts from Sandra Cisneros's story "Mericans" best reveals a blending of cultures?

Read the excerpt from "Take the Tortillas Out of Your Poetry." For me, reading has always been a path toward liberation and fulfillment. To learn to read is to start down the road of liberation, a road which should be accessible to everyone. No one has the right to keep you from reading, and yet that is what is happening in many areas in this country today. There are those who think they know best what we should read. These censors are at work in all areas of our daily lives. Which best describes how Anaya uses rhetorical appeal to convince readers that censors want to limit what people can read?

Read this excerpt from "Choreographers of Matter, Life, and Intelligence." But the few wondrous shells and pebbles picked up by Newton and other scientists on the seashore helped to trigger a marvelous chain of events. A profound transformation occurred in human society. With Newton's mechanics came powerful machines, and eventually the steam engine, the motive force which reshaped the world by overturning agrarian society, spawning factories and stimulating commerce, unleashing the industrial revolution, and opening up entire continents with the railroad. Select the most accurate summary of Kaku's argument.

When evaluating sources for a compare-and-contrast paragraph, you can tell if a source's argument is objective if it

Read this excerpt from "Talking Robots." Of course, neural networks still have a long way to go before they can model the human brain. As physicist Heinz Pagels has said: "The difference between a real neuron and the model neurons . . . is like the difference between a human hand and a pair of pliers." But the fact that a simple neural network can speak at all is remarkable, indicating that perhaps human abilities can be simulated by electronics. . . . Which is the most accurate summary of Kaku's argument?

Read the paragraph. I have been a nurse for twenty years. In that time, I have seen a great number of patients suffer because they did not have health insurance. One of the worst cases was a young mother of two who was diagnosed with early stage skin cancer. Because she could not afford treatment, the cancer spread from her skin to other parts of her body. By the time I saw her for the first time, the cancer had reached her brain, and she could no longer be helped. This sort of thing should not happen to anyone. A strong universal health care system could prevent instances like this from occurring. What makes this appeal from the paragraph convincing? One of the worst cases was a young mother of two who was diagnosed with early stage skin cancer.

Read the excerpts from "Take the Tortillas Out of Your Poetry" and "Speaking Arabic." My friend had concluded that if he took his language and culture out of his poetry, he stood a better chance of receiving a fellowship. He took out his native language, the poetic patois of our reality, the rich mixture of Spanish, English, pachuco and street talk which we know so well. In other words, he took the tortillas out of his poetry, which is to say he took the soul out of his poetry. At a neighborhood fair in Texas, somewhere between the German Oom-pah Sausage Stand and the Mexican Gorditas booth, I overheard a young man say to his friend, "I wish I had a heritage. Sometimes I feel—so lonely for one." And the tall American trees were dangling their thick branches right down over his head. Which best states how the structures of both excerpts support ideas about cultural diversity?

When evaluating your compare-and-contrast paragraph, it is essential to ensure that

Read the excerpt from "Take the Tortillas Out of Your Poetry." In other cases, the censoring has been direct and brutal. On February 28, 1981 the morning newspaper carried a story about the burning of my novel, Bless Me, Ultima. The book was banned from high school classes in Bloomfield, New Mexico, and a school board member was quoted as saying: "We took the books out and personally saw that they were burned." Which type of rhetoric most shows how powerful people use censorship to silence the powerless?

Read this excerpt from "Choreographers of Matter, Life, and Intelligence." With Newton's mechanics came powerful machines, and eventually the steam engine, the motive force which reshaped the world by overturning agrarian society, spawning factories and stimulating commerce. . . . What is the meaning of the underlined term?

Read the following excerpt from Sandra Cisneros's story "Mericans." There are those walking to church on their knees. Some with fat rags tied around their legs and others with pillows, one to kneel on, and one to flop ahead. There are women with black shawls crossing and uncrossing themselves. There are armies of penitents carrying banners and flowered arches while musicians play tinny trumpets and tinny drums. What cultural element is revealed in this excerpt?

How does Michio Kaku develop the idea of an impending scientific revolution in "Choreographers of Matter, Life, and Intelligence"?

Read the following excerpt from "Take the Tortillas Out of Your Poetry" by Rudolfo A. Anaya. If we leave out our tortillas—and by that I mean the language, history, cultural values and themes of our literature—the very culture we're portraying will die. Based on this excerpt, which of the following statements best expresses Anaya's point of view?