Activity 1.5: “Two Kinds” of Cultural
Identity
Learning Target:
Analyze how two characters interact and
develop over the course of a text to explain
how conflict is used to advance the theme of
a text.
Find a Corner
For each of the following statements,
go to the corner of the room that best
describes your personal experience:
strongly agree, agree, disagree, or
strongly disagree.
Nationality
Race Sports
Language
Music
Hobbies
Politics
Food
Gender
Religion
Fashion
Family
Community
My family’s cultural
heritage is an ethnic
hash.
My parents actively
help me appreciate
our family’s cultural
heritage.
I sometimes feel in
conflict with my parents
because we define our
cultural identities
differently.
Allowing everyone
to be anonymous
online is a good
idea.
Annotate the counterclaim
.
Team up with a classmate with the other
half of the article and explain how you
shifted your opinion or how the opposing
view is wrong
.
Wearing body
cameras
promotes safety.
.
Bingewatching
TV is an
acceptable
entertainment
.
Counterclaim Evidence
Tape or glue your annotated articles in your
EW Journal.
Read Amy Tan’s “Two Kinds”
and annotate the text.
1. Respond to all of the prompts
in the My Notes section.
2. Highlight and define new
vocabulary.
Annotation
Check!
Creating Questions
You will each be given a number: 1-8. Your job is to create
at least three discussion questions based on your chunk of
the story. Your should write a question for each Level of
Questioning: Literal, Interpretive, and Universal.
Example: If you are a Number 2, you will write three
questions based on the part of the story that falls in Chunk 2.
Levels of Questioning
1. Literal: A question that can be answered solely by
referencing the text itself -- recalling information.
2. Interpretive: A question that cannot be answered by
looking at the text itself, but can be answered by inference or
reference to some outside information.
3. Universal: A question that seeks a judgment by the
answerer, such as the value, worth, or truth of the text or its
contents.
Levels of Questioning Examples
The following reference Patricia Williams’s essay, “Ethnic
Hash”
1. Literal: Why does Patricia need to create an “ethnic” hors
d’oeuvre?
2. Interpretive: Why is Patricia so confused by the term “ethnic
heritage”?
3. Universal: How can food represent a person’s ethnic
Discussion Question Process
● Reread your CHUNK.
● Create three questions: a literal, an
interpretive, and an universal.
● Meet with the other members of the class that
shared your CHUNK.
● Share questions and choose the best three.
● Be prepared to pose your questions to the
class.
After Reading
With your CHUNK discussion
group, complete the After
Reading graphic organizer.
Share the responsibility to lead
the discussion before recording
your responses.
Activity 1.5 Writing Prompt
Go to your Google Classroom and
complete the assignment: Conflict
in Amy Tan’s “Two Kinds” You
will be writing a three chunk
paragraph of at least eleven
sentences.
What is a chunk?
A chunk is...
A part of (or “chunk”) of a paragraph that
contains a. . .
. . .a Concrete Detail (CD) followed
by Commentary (CM) that links the
Concrete Detail to the Topic
Sentence (TS).
Topic Sentence, Concrete Detail,
and Commentary Example
(from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet)
In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the reader is
shown that negative consequences can arise when one
ignores his or her duty, especially to one’s family. For
example, after Tybalt kills Mercutio, Romeo complains that
Juliet’s “beauty hath made [him] effeminate / And in [his]
temper softened valor’s steel” (3.1.119-120). Because
Romeo didn’t want to harm a member of Juliet’s family, he
ignored the anger that Tybalt was feeling. It was only after
Mercutio, who stood up for Romeo and the Montague
reputation, was killed that Romeo realized his first priority
should have been his family.
In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the
reader is shown that negative
consequences can arise when one ignores
his or her duty, especially to one’s family.
For example, after Tybalt kills Mercutio,
Romeo complains that Juliet’s “beauty
hath made [him] effeminate / And in [his]
temper softened valor’s steel” (3.1.119120). Because Romeo didn’t want to harm
a member of Juliet’s family, he ignored the
anger that Tybalt was feeling. It was only
after Mercutio, who stood up for Romeo
and the Montague reputation, was killed
that Romeo realized his first priority
should have been his family.
TOPIC SENTENCE:
This sentence is the
focus of the BODY
PARAGRAPH and
contains the
THEMATIC
STATEMENT. All the
CONCRETE DETAILS
and COMMENTARY
that follow need to
connect to this
sentence.
In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the
reader is shown that negative
consequences can arise when one ignores
his or her duty, especially to one’s family.
For example, after Tybalt kills Mercutio,
Romeo complains that Juliet’s “beauty
hath made [him] effeminate / And in [his]
temper softened valor’s steel” (3.1.119120). Because Romeo didn’t want to harm
a member of Juliet’s family, he ignored the
anger that Tybalt was feeling. It was only
after Mercutio, who stood up for Romeo
and the Montague reputation, was killed
that Romeo realized his first priority
should have been his family.
CONCRETE DETAIL: In writing
about literature, your CONCRETE
DETAILS are made up of quotes.
The key is to use the TLQ formula:
T=Transition, L=Lead-In, and
Q=Quote. You must also include
proper citation. This is usually the
page number where the quote is
found. In the case of a play, you
include the act, scene, and line(s).
In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the
reader is shown that negative
consequences can arise when one ignores
his or her duty, especially to one’s family.
For example, after Tybalt kills Mercutio,
Romeo complains that Juliet’s “beauty
hath made [him] effeminate / And in [his]
temper softened valor’s steel” (3.1.119120). Because Romeo didn’t want to harm
a member of Juliet’s family, he ignored the
anger that Tybalt was feeling. It was only
after Mercutio, who stood up for Romeo
and the Montague reputation, was killed
that Romeo realized his first priority
should have been his family.
COMMENTARY: The following
two sentences are your
COMMENTARY. The
commentary explains how the
CONCRETE DETAIL connects to
your TOPIC SENTENCE, and they
help to develop your overall
THEME. To finish the paragraph
you would write at least one
other CHUNK (another concrete
detail and two sentences of
commentary) and finish with a
CONCLUDING SENTENCE.
The Structure. . .
1. Topic Sentence (include author and title
and Thematic Statement)
7. Commentary
2. Concrete Detail (specific detail/quote)
8. Concrete Detail
3. Commentary (connecting detail to topic
and theme)
9. Commentary
4. Commentary
10. Commentary
5. Concrete Detail
11. Concluding Sentence
6. Commentary
Embedding a
Quote
Don’t Drop Any Bombs!