모벍쌤 시험 총정리 퀴즐렛

Is "I Am a Rock" more about loneliness or solitude?

"I Am a Rock" is more about loneliness than solitude, though the speaker tries to pretend that he has chosen his loneliness. The speaker has previously been hurt by those around him and finds that he can no longer trust others, and feels lonely as a result; rather than try and find new friends and new love, they simply give up, trying to convince themselves that they have chosen loneliness and that having no relationships is desirable. The song is about a defeatist attitude towards relationships.

What specific images are used in "Imported from Detroit"? Why are these images selected?

"Imported from Detroit" uses images of (in approximate order): * Factories * Abandoned buildings * Statues of fists * The Detroit Institute of Art murals of industrial workers * Policemen at work * Ice-skating rinks * Church choirs * Football teams jogging * Eminem These give (at least the impression of) an honest portrayal of the real, living, breathing city, both the good and the bad, as opposed to the fake, touristy Detroit.

Why are Orwell's problems in "Politics and the English Language" dangerous?

"Language corrupts thought." These ready-made phrases result in evasive writing that hides what the writer is really trying to say; sometimes even the writer is unaware of what they are really saying. The words think for the writer, leading to slovenly thinking. In politics, this is especially dangerous because these phrases are euphemistic; they conceal the real meaning that is being conveyed, blocking productive political discussion. When a terrible justification for a terrible atrocity is coated with Latinate phrases and pretentious diction, it is difficult to see it for what it really is.

What is the thesis statement of "Politics and the English Language"?

"Modern English, especially written English, is full of bad habits which spread by imitation and which can be avoided if one is willing to take the necessary trouble."

How is "You Are Here" organized? Why does Sagan organize it in this way?

"You Are Here" is organized into three large sections: the description of the Voyager program and how it took the image, the description of the image itself, and Sagan's conclusions about the image. This division between objective description and subjective conclusion allows the reader to fully understand the factual nature of the Voyager image, and thus better appreciate the conclusions Sagan draws from it. The first part is largely chronologically organized, except the first few paragraphs that begin with the climax (the Voyager spacecraft taking the picture). By beginning with the climax, Sagan hooks the reader (especially as the spacecraft is initially unnamed) and focuses the chapter on the picture itself—had the section been strictly chronologically organized, the reader might think that the chapter is about the Voyager program as a whole.

What does "A Decade" suggest about how relationships change over time?

1. Before the "Decade": The relationship is overtly passionate and sweet, but perhaps not strictly necessary (just as red wine and honey are not) and sometimes emotionally taxing ("burnt my mouth") 2. After the "Decade": The relationship is no longer as overtly passionate, but has now become "smooth" (not emotionally burdensome), nourishing, and fundamental to life as morning bread.

How does Bryson make his point in "Coming Home"?

1. Bryson begins with what is new and confusing and suggests that going home again is impossible, and only discusses what has not changed at the very end. This helps emphasize the qualified nature of his "yes, you can go home again." 2. He shows far more than he tells. Most of the essay is made up of examples and anecdotes (road map, garage door, hardware store) that illustrate his points.

What is Bryson's style in his essay "Coming Home"?

1. Bryson's style is very informal and colloquial (e.g. contractions, "got," generic you), conveying a sense of familiarity and honesty. 2. Bryson's style is very down-to-earth in its concrete details and anecdotes. 3. Bryson's style is very humorous, involving both hyperbole (is the garage door really life-threatening? are all Dartmouth students truly imbecilic?) and self-deprecation (he imagines himself in lederhosen at the hardware store and uses "I shall", quintessentially British English, in his conversations there). 4. Bryson often suggests a whole story without telling it, such as in his description of a "stern grip on your elbow" when he tries to take a road map for free.

What problems does Orwell identify in modern English in "Politics and the English Language"? Give examples of each.

1. Dying metaphors: A metaphor that has been used so often they no longer evoke an image, often used without knowing what they mean [ring the changes on, take up the cudgels for, toe the line, ride roughshod over, stand shoulder to shoulder with, play into the hands of, no axe to grind, grist to the mill, fishing in troubled waters, on the order of the day, Achilles' heel, swan song, hotbed] * * * 2. Operators or verbal false limbs: Long phrases are used instead of finding appropriate simple words. Specifically: - Verbal phrases are preferred over verbs - The passive is preferred over the active - Noun phrases are preferred over gerunds - "Not un-" formations and "de-" and "-ize" formations are used - Phrases replace conjunctions and prepositions [render inoperative, militate against, prove unacceptable, make contact with, he subjected to, give rise to, give grounds for, have the effect of, play a leading part (role) in, make itself felt, take effect, exhibit a tendency to, serve the purpose of, with respect to, having regard to, the fact that, by dint of, in view of, in the interests of, on the hypothesis that, greatly to be desired, cannot be left out of account, a development to be expected in the near future, deserving of serious consideration, brought to a satisfactory conclusion] * * * 3. Pretentious diction: Archaic or foreign, especially Latin- or Greek-derived phrases, are used in favor of traditional Anglo-Saxon words in the belief that this will make the writer sound more intelligent. [phenomenon, element, individual (as noun), objective, categorical, effective, virtual, basic, primary, promote, constitute, exhibit, exploit, utilize, eliminate, liquidate, epoch-making, epic, historic, unforgettable, triumphant, age-old, inevitable, inexorable, veritable, realm, throne, chariot, mailed fist, trident, sword, shield, buckler, banner, jackboot, clarion, cul de sac, ancien regime, deus ex machina, mutatis mutandis, status quo, gleichschaltung, weltanschauung, expedite, ameliorate, predict, extraneous, deracinated, clandestine, subaqueous, antirrhinum, myosotis, deregionalize, impermissible, extramarital, non-fragmentary] [Pretentious Marxist diction: hyena, hangman, cannibal, petty bourgeois, these gentry, lacquey, flunkey, mad dog, White Guard] * * * 4. Meaningless words: Words that have no meaning and do not point to any discoverable object. In art/literary criticism, the same work could be described as living and dead; in politics, words are reduced to "something good" or "something bad." [Meaningless words in art criticism: romantic, plastic, values, human, dead, sentimental, natural, vitality] [Meaningless political words: democracy, socialism, freedom, patriotic, realistic, justice, class, totalitarian, science, progressive, reactionary, bourgeois, equality.]

Discuss the relationships Lee Herrick has with his mother, father, and sister in "What Is This Thing Called Family".

All three members of his family serve to support, protect, and teach Herrick, and ultimately shape him for the better. This, in Herrick's eyes, is the true meaning of family. Mother: Creative force (reason unknown), support system (the anecdote where he consoles Herrick) Father: Role model (the anecdote about volunteer work), support system Sister: Inspiration for kindness, protector (stood up for him when he was taunted)

"I was looking forward to a long night's snooze—indeed was enjoying a long night's snooze—when, at some indeterminate dark hour, there was a sound nearby that made my eyes fly open. Normally, I slept through everything—through thunderstorms, through Katz's snoring and noisy midnight pees—so something big enough or distinctive enough to wake me was unusual. There was a sound of undergrowth being disturbed—a click of breaking branches, a weighty pushing through low foliage—and then a kind of large, vaguely irritable snuffling noise." * * * This passage most closely matches the style of (consult the Index in Page 1):

Bill Bryson in "Coming Home" (from Bryson, "A Walk in the Woods")

"Suddenly, in the space of a moment, I realized what it was that I loved about Britain - which is to say, all of it. Every last bit of it, good and bad - Marmite, village fetes, country lanes, people saying 'mustn't grumble' and 'I'm terribly sorry but', people apologizing to me when I conk them with a nameless elbow, milk in bottles, beans on toast, haymaking in June, stinging nettles, seaside piers, Ordnance Survey maps, crumpets, hot-water bottles as a necessity, drizzly Sundays - every bit of it." * * * This passage most closely matches the style of (consult the Index in Page 1):

Bill Bryson in "Coming Home" (from Bryson, "Notes From a Small Island")

Compare the styles of Bryson and Sedaris.

Bryson and Sedaris are both humorous writers, but while Bryson is more lighthearted, self-deprecatory, and generally more colloquial using shorter sentences (excluding a tendency to enumerate concrete nouns, such as in his list of what has remained familiar), Sedaris uses darker humor and greater sarcasm.

What is Bryson's main point in "Coming Home"?

Bryson's main point is an answer, a qualified "yes," to the question he poses in the first paragraph: can you go home again? Bryson argues that it is indeed possible to go back to your place of origin and still feel at home, as he himself does with American thunderstorms and skunks. However, you must accept that many things will have changed or no longer be familiar—that is the implication of the need to ask for spackle and bring money for road maps in the essay's final line.

"It was an observation that someone else might easily have ignored. Sticks, shadows, reflections in wells, the position of the Sun—of what possible importance could such simple everyday matters be? But Eratosthenes was a scientist, and his musings on these commonplaces changed the world; in a way, they made the world. Eratosthenes had the presence of mind to do an experiment, actually to observe whether in Alexandria vertical sticks cast shadows near noon on June 21. And, he discovered, sticks do." * * * This passage most closely matches the style of (consult the Index in Page 1):

Carl Sagan in "You Are Here" (excerpt from Sagan, "Cosmos")

"Think of how many religions attempt to validate themselves with prophecy. Think of how many people rely on these prophecies, however vague, however unfulfilled, to support or prop up their beliefs. Yet has there ever been a religion with the prophetic accuracy and reliability of science? There isn't a religion on the planet that doesn't long for a comparable ability—precise, and repeatedly demonstrated before committed sceptics—to foretell future events. No other human institution comes close." * * * This passage most closely matches the style of (consult the Index in Page 1):

Carl Sagan in "You Are Here" (excerpt from Sagan, "The Demon-Haunted World")

"'If you like the odd bits and pieces, I think I've got something else you might enjoy.' The taxidermist retreated to the area behind his desk, and pulled a plastic bag off an overhead shelf. It was, I noticed, from Waitrose, a grocery store described to me upon my move to England as 'a cut above.' From the bag he removed what looked like a platter with an oblong glass dome over it. Inside was a man's forearm, complete with little hairs and a smudged tattoo. The taxidermist said, completely unnecessarily, 'Now, there's a story behind this.' For what human limb in a Waitrose bag is not without some sort of story?" * * * This passage most closely matches the style of (consult the Index in Page 1):

David Sedaris in "Remembering My Childhood on the Continent of Africa" (from Sedaris, "The Gift of Owls")

"'See,' he said. 'Right here. Look.' He pointed to the corner and I saw that the government had classified him as a Grand Mutilated Person. The 'grand' business was new to me, but the other part was familiar from riding the Paris buses. 'These seats are reserved for the elderly and for those who have been mutilated in the war,' the signs used to read. It's a much stronger word than 'wounded' or 'handicapped,' and I imagine that, if we used it in the United States, enlistment in the volunteer Army would fall by at least half." * * * This passage most closely matches the style of (consult the Index in Page 1):

David Sedaris in "Remembering My Childhood on the Continent of Africa" (from Sedaris, "The Man in the Hut")

What overall impression of Detroit is created in "Imported from Detroit"?

Detroit and its people are portrayed as strong, determined, hardworking, persevering. The city possesses the inner strength to overcome its current troubles, and it is a memorable place precisely because of the challenges it has faced.

According to "Imported from Detroit," what is Detroit not?

Detroit is not: * New York City * Windy City (Chicago) * Sin City (Las Vegas) * Emerald City (from the Wizard of Oz) * Not the city described "by folks who have never even been here" The first four are examples of ideal, perfect cities. The fifth is the ruined and hopeless city described in the media.

What does "Meeting My Father for the First Time" tell you about Ford's two fathers and Ford himself?

Ford's adoptive father: Loving, compassionate, caring, not well-off. His characterization is told more than shown. Ford's biological father: Arrogant, presumptuous, inconsiderate, wasteful, apathetic, wealthy. His characterization is shown more than told. Ford: Insecure—he cannot simply shrug off his encounter with his "real father" and is heavily emotionally affected

"And even now, if coal could not be produced without pregnant women dragging it to and fro, I fancy we should let them do it rather than deprive ourselves of coal. But most of the time, of course, we should prefer to forget that they were doing it. It is so with all types of manual work; it keeps us alive, and we are oblivious of its existence. More than anyone else, perhaps, the miner can stand as the type of the manual worker, not only because his work is so exaggeratedly awful, but also because it is so vitally necessary and yet so remote from our experience, so invisible, as it were, that we are capable of forgetting it as we forget the blood in our veins." * * * This passage most closely matches the style of (consult the Index in Page 1):

George Orwell in "Politics and the English Language" (from Orwell, "Down the Mine")

"All nationalists have the power of not seeing resemblances between similar sets of facts. A British Tory will defend self-determination in Europe and oppose it in India with no feeling of inconsistency. Actions are held to be good or bad, not on their own merits, but according to who does them, and there is almost no kind of outrage—torture, the use of hostages, forced labour, mass deportations, imprisonment without trial, forgery, assassination, the bombing of civilians—which does not change its moral colour when it is committed by 'our' side. The Liberal News Chronicle published, as an example of shocking barbarity, photographs of Russians hanged by the Germans, and then a year or two later published with warm approval almost exactly similar photographs of Germans hanged by the Russians." * * * This passage most closely matches the style of (consult the Index in Page 1):

George Orwell in "Politics and the English Language" (from Orwell, "Notes on Nationalism")

"The truest art I would strive for in any work would be to give the page the same qualities as earth: weather would land on it harshly, light would elucidate the most difficult truths; wind would sweep away obtuse padding. Finally, the lessons of impermanence taught me this: loss constitutes an odd kind of fullness; despair empties out into an unquenchable appetite for life." * * * This passage most closely matches the style of (consult the Index in Page 1):

Gretel Ehrlich in "The Solace of Open Spaces" (also from "Solace")

"The life of rocks, ice, mountains, snow, oceans, islands, albatross, sooty gulls, whales, seals, crabs, limpets, and guanaco [a type of South American camel] once flowed up into the bodies of these people, and out came whale prayers, condor chants, crab feasts, and guanaco songs. Life went where there was food. Villages were portable. Food occurred in places of great beauty, and the feedback from living directly fueled their movements, dances, thoughts, and lives." * * * This passage most closely matches the style of (consult the Index in Page 1):

Gretel Ehrlich in "The Solace of Open Spaces" (from Ehrlich, "The Future of Ice")

"A thousand years ago the hunter's world was made of ice and darkness, water and light, meat eaten raw and dried, and skins-dog, seal, polar bear, reindeer, Arctic hare, and eider duck-that were sewn into clothes, tents, and sleeping bags. The seasons rocked back and forth between light and dark and the ice was always moving: the top of Greenland is jostled by 52,000 square miles of Arctic sea, most of it ice. Polynyas-areas of open water-were created when surging tidal currents broke the ice, and stayed open like unhealing sores in midwinter. The land was an ocean that broke against bodies of water, shattering into islands big and small. Tides arm-wrestled pack ice until it accordioned up against itself, finally falling onto the mainland's shore. Glaciers calved great slabs of ice as big as convention centers and as fanciful as the Taj Mahal, and these sailed down the fjords all summer, their arches, towers, and shoulders collapsing in sudden heat as if from a fit of laughter." * * * This passage most closely matches the style of (consult the Index in Page 1):

Gretel Ehrlich in "The Solace of Open Spaces" (from Ehrlich, "This Cold Heaven")

How does Herrick define "family" and "home" in "What Is This Thing Called Family"?

Herrick defines "family" as being "about loving, struggling, and adapting," and ultimately about standing up for, consoling, teaching, and helping one another—all things his own family has done for him. His definition of "family" is thus more focused on internal and emotional dynamics than what it may look like from the outside; he explicitly mentions types of families conventionally thought as dysfunctional and notes that his own family does not look alike, insofar as it is an interracial one. "Home," to Herrick, is where this kind of family is.

Does "A Decade" support a traditional or modern view of love?

I believe that the poem supports a modern view of love, in that the traditional Western view of love (courtly love, Romeo & Juliet, love poetry, etc.) tends to make love be the early passion between lovers rather than the calmer long-term relationship that follows after.

How does Ford's attitude toward the incident (and his father) evolve from the beginning of "Meeting My Father for the First Time" to the end?

In the beginning, Ford is cautious and hesitant (he tells his father that he is working), but his discussion of how little he knew about his father does suggest a degree of curiosity. Following the encounter, Ford's feelings toward his father turn to disappointment and possibly resentment (though Mr. Moberg disagrees), as both told (the image of his real father as Ford saw it) and shown (his breaking down and crying).

Why does Jack change the normal ending of the Roger Creature story in "Should Wizard Hit Mommy?"

Jack changes the ending in order to express his own identity. The immediate trigger for the new ending is that he realizes how Jo takes the normal ending—his expected social role—for granted. Frustrated at being taken for granted instead of being wanted, he draws on his own personal experiences (e.g. "his own mother") to tell a story about a skunk who ultimately retains his own smell (i.e. his own identity) rather than succumb to what the other little animals demand of him (i.e. the smell of roses). Another reason Jack tells the story is to reaffirm his crumbling patriarchal authority. Jack tells Jo that the point is that the little skunk loved Mother Skunk more than the other animals and Mother Skunk knew best, and so (the implication goes) Jo should respect her father for who he is and accept his authority. By rejecting Jack's ending, Jo rejects Jack's attempt to break free of his social roles and his dreams of regaining his authority.

What do we learn about the family of "Should Wizard Hit Mommy?"

Jack feels dissatisfied with his family. He feels unwanted and unnecessary, just as his Roger Creature stories have become "futile," and he feels that Clare and Jo do not allow to be himself and break free from his social roles, just as he has so far kept to the Roger Creature repertoire even as his head has become empty. Jack hopes to be respected once again for who he is and not for what he is expected to be, as a traditional patriarch might be (see his comment to Jo about the meaning of the Roger Skunk story). But he has no moral authority to enforce this. Jo has begun to question her parents' authority as she enters her "reality phase." Jack does not know how to properly respond to this newfound challenge, and in the end he resorts to corporal punishment. We know little about Clare except that Jack sees much of her in Jo, suggesting that their relationship, too, is strained and part of Jack's "cage."

How does Jo remind Jack of Clare in "Should Wizard Hit Mommy?"

Jo first reminds Jack of Clare in a neutral way (the color of her eyes). But the next mention is different; Jo is like Clare when she "feigns pleasure." This suggests that Jack feels he is failing both Jo and Claire, that they are not actually satisfied with him but are only pretending to. Later, Jack thinks that he dislikes women taking him for granted, watching Jo believe the story over. The only other female character in the story is Clare. The similarities between Jo and Clare that Jack imagines suggest that to Jack, both Jo and Clare are part of the "cage"—people who do not truly want him and take him for granted.

What specific advice does Orwell give to help with our writing in "Politics and the English Language"?

Orwell gives specific advice in two parts. First, he says that "scrupulous writers" should ask themselves the following questions: 1. What am I trying to say? 2. What words will express it? 3. What image or idiom will make it clearer? 4. Is this image fresh enough to have any effect? 5. Could I put it more shortly? 6. Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly? He later gives more specific advice toward the conclusion: 1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech you are used to seeing in print. 2. Never use a long word where a short one will do. 3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. 4. Never use the passive where you can use the active. 5. Never use a foreign word, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent. 6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous. He also gives the more general advice to "let the meaning choose the word."

What is the relationship between Singapore and Singaporeans in "Bukit Timah, Singapore"?

Singapore's existence as a megalopolis is portrayed as being dependent on Singaporeans—its people are its food.

What is the "cage" Jack sees himself in "Should Wizard Hit Mommy?"

The "cage" is the social and familial roles and responsibilities that shackle Jack. From Jack's point of view at the end of the story, Jo, Clare, and the house itself are all part of a prison that bars Jack from pursuing his own identity and being respected as his own person.

What is the central metaphor of "Bukit Timah, Singapore"?

The central metaphor is that of digestion. Singapore is depicted as a living creature with an appetite of its own, with Bukit Timah the beginning of the city's digestive tract. The growth of the city depends on its devouring its own people—and so, for all the "order" and "comfort" development might bring, Lee's attitude towards urbanization can never be more positive than ambivalent.

Discuss the use of metaphor in "A Decade".

The central metaphor is that of food and taste. 1. Red wine and honey (the early stages of a relationship): Sweet (sometimes to the point of burning your mouth), expensive, unnecessary luxuries 2. Morning bread: Smooth, milder taste, cheap, fundamental necessity

Where does Ford tell and where does he show in "Meeting My Father for the First Time"?

The character of Ford's biological father is shown, rather than told, for most of the essay through specific details about the encounter (the money, the car, etc.). Ford "tells" primarily in the final paragraph, which is an emphatic outpour of emotions that we can readily understand thanks to the "shown" characterization of the previous paragraphs. This effectively conveys the heights of Ford's emotions and also helps focus the passage on Ford's biological father by excluding anecdotes about his adoptive father. The final sentence, on Ford breaking down and crying, also shows rather than tells Ford's disappointment.

What do you think are the most specific details included in "Meeting My Father for the First Time"?

The essay is generally sparse in specific details, which stresses what details appear the more. 1. The specific quantities Ford's biological father was ordered to pay in child support ($50 to $75) and the exact amount Ford was condescendingly given ($25): Characterizes Ford's biological father as irresponsible, uncaring, and arrogant 2. The type of car Ford's biological father is driving (Lincoln) and how he bought the car (to drive home): Characterizes Ford's biological father as rich, wasteful, and inconsiderate 3. The exact way Ford's biological father discovered Ford: Characterizes Ford's biological father as apathetic and presumptuous

How does Sedaris develop his comparison?

The essay is organized in a point-by-point comparison, as opposed to a block-by-block one. Each of the points are connected through all four transition strategies (connectives, direct reference, pronouns, and repetition), but especially direct reference and pronouns.

How does the landscape influence the character of Wyoming people?

The harsh environment has made Wyomingites: * Individualist, self-reliant: In the Wyoming winter, Ehrlich feels that she is the only person on Earth * Dignified, rugged: Highpockets has a stride that matches the openness of the country and a positive/dignified outlook on life; the ranch hand says the people do not care where they are coming from or where they will go * Proud: "Proud of their glamorous cowboy past" * Determined: Wyomingers are determined not to be a mining state

Explain the irony in Sedaris's envy of Hugh. How does he make it explicit?

The irony is that while Sedaris envies Hugh for his adventurous life, Sedaris's own middle-class life would be the envy of billions around the globe. Sedaris makes it explicit in the penultimate paragraph by imagining someone in a ditch dreaming of a middle-class vacation; it is possible that this current self-awareness of his privileged position has contributed to his healthy attitude towards Hugh's adventures and his not "surrendering to bitterness" that concludes the essay.

What is the main point of Sedaris's essay "Remembering My Childhood on the Continent of Africa"?

The main point is that while Sedaris envied (and perhaps, to some limited extent, still envies) his friend Hugh for living a life so much more adventurous than his, he has not surrendered to bitterness and found satisfaction in Hugh sharing his experiences with him and experiencing Africa vicariously through the life of his friend.

Describe the mood or tone of the excerpt from Ehrlich's essay "The Solace of Open Spaces" that we read.

The mood of "Solace" is austere and powerful. The landscape of Wyoming is described in harsh and austere terms—the hailstones, the twisted grass, the arid valleys—that seem to take on almost cosmic or mythical proportions—the slopes like galaxies, the silent winters that make you feel like the first or last human on earth. This dramatizes the landscape of Wyoming so that Ehrlich's thesis that Wyoming has shaped Wyomingites becomes more readily acceptable. (It is worth noting that Wyoming is not calm!)

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * All morning the tired buses whine their monotonous route, drag from stop to stop, disgorge schoolchildren, pale-faced clerks, long-suffering civil servants, pretty office girls, to feed the megalopolitan appetite.

Title: "Bukit Timah, Singapore" Location: Fifth stanza / After the stanza discussing "loitering children" Significance: The stanza again emphasizes the central metaphor of Singapore as carnivore ("the megalopolitan appetite"); the city feeds on the people of Singapore in order to grow. The Singaporeans, the food of Singapore, are portrayed as generally weary: "tired," "monotonous," "pale-faced," "long-suffering." This shows the state of Singaporeans under urban development and emphasizes the ambivalence towards development that is a key theme of the poem.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * I wonder what that old farmer would say if he lived to come this way.

Title: "Bukit Timah, Singapore" Location: Final stanza / Conclusion Significance: This conclusion asks the reader to look at Singapore's urbanization and development from the old farmer's (mentioned briefly earlier) perspective. We have no certain answer, though it does seem likely, given the overall tone of the previous stanza with its "restless" sleepers, that the old farmer's answer will tend to be negative. Lee thus leaves the poem open-ended, reflecting the general ambivalence of the poem.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * This highway I know, the only way into the city where the muddy canal goes. These are the sides of coarse grasses where the schoolboys stumble in early morning wet-staining their white shoes.

Title: "Bukit Timah, Singapore" Location: First stanza / Introductory stanza Significance: This stanza introduces both the central setting of the work (the Bukit Timah road), and its central protagonists (the hardworking people of Singapore, here represented by the schoolboys), setting the stage for the rest of the poem.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * Under the steaming morning, ambition flashes by in a new car: the reluctant salesman faced with another day of selling his pride hunches over the lambretta, swerving from old farmer with fruit-heavy basket. The women back from market remark that this monsoon will be bad for the price of vegetables: their loitering children, too small for school, learn the value of five cents, ten cents, from hunger and these market days.

Title: "Bukit Timah, Singapore" Location: Fourth stanza / Before the stanza discussing the "tired buses" Significance: This paragraph enumerates all the different types of people who crowd to the city, and who all support and "feed" Singapore. This shows the dependence of Singapore on its people that is one of the themes of the poem. The description of the people of Singapore here tends toward a sort of weariness: the steaming morning, the reluctant salesman, the worried women, the hungry children. This accentuates the feeling of ambivalence towards urbanization and development that is another theme of the poem.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * This is the way the city is fed men, machines, flushed out of their short dreams and suburban holes to churn down this waiting gullet. They flow endlessly this way from dawn, before sky opens, to the narrow glare of noon and evening's slow closing.

Title: "Bukit Timah, Singapore" Location: Second and third stanzas / Shortly after the introduction of Bukit Timah Significance: We have the first reference to Singapore as a digestive tract that is the dominant metaphor of the poem. Singapore is portrayed as a carnivore that feeds on its people in order to grow. This emphasizes Singapore's dependence on its people and shows at least an ambivalent attitude towards urbanization.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * One day there will be tall buildings here, where the green trees reach for the narrow canal. The holes where the restless sleepers are will be neat, boxed up in ten-stories. Life will be orderly, comfortable, exciting, occasionally, at the new nightclubs.

Title: "Bukit Timah, Singapore" Location: Seventh stanza / Following the description of the current state of Bukit Timah Significance: Li wonders what the future people who will live in Bukit Timah once it is fully developed will live like. It is true that she concedes some benefits: "neat," "orderly," "comfortable." Yet it is also a much more dull and regimented life—one "boxed up," and exciting only "occasionally" and "at the new nightclubs"—and the people will be "restless." These are the negatives of urban development. This stanza thus most explicitly reveals the poem's central theme of ambivalence towards development.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * This highway I know, the only way out of the city: the same highway under the moon, the same people under the sea-green of lamps newly turned on at evening.

Title: "Bukit Timah, Singapore" Location: Sixth stanza / Before the discussion of how Bukit Timah will have high-rise buildings Significance: This stanza closely parallels the first stanza, only it is set it night and the people are leaving; this parallelism emphasizes the importance of Bukit Timah to Singapore and its people as "the only way into/out of the city", an important motif in the poem.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "But send me to the hardware store and even now I am totally lost. For months I had conversations with the clerk at our local True-Value that went something like this: "'Hi. I need some of that goopy stuff you fill nail holes in walls with. My wife's people call it Pollyfilla.' "'Ah, you mean spackle.' "'Very possibly. And I need some of those little plastic things that you use to hold screws in the wall when you put shelves up. I know them as rawl plugs.' "'We call them anchors.' "'I shall make a mental note of it.' "Really, I could hardly have felt more foreign if I had stood there dressed in lederhosen."

Title: "Coming Home" Location: After the paragraph with the life-threatening garage door and before his description of feeling American in London. Significance: This is one of a series of paragraphs that show the reader how it may seem impossible to come home, with the focus here on how adult life in America is as new to Bryson as any immigrant, something touched on earlier with mention of pipes and thermostats. One of the curious things about Bryson's essay seen here is that he begins with the other viewpoint, that you cannot go home again, and indeed most of his essay is devoted to how much things have changed.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "As well, there has been the constant, unexpected joy of reencountering all those things I grew up with but had largely forgotten: baseball on the radio, the deeply satisfying whoing-bang slam of a screen door in summer, insects that glow, sudden run-for-your-life thunderstorms, really big snowfalls, Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July, the smell of a skunk from just the distance that you have to sniff the air quizzically and say: "Is that a skunk?", Jell-O with stuff in it, the pleasingly comical sight of oneself in shorts. All that counts for a lot, in a strange way."

Title: "Coming Home" Location: Fifteenth paragraph / Near the last paragraph Significance: This is the only paragraph in the entire essay devoted to what has remained the same and familiar to Bryson. By switching the essay's focus from the differences to the similarities, Bryson sets the stage for his ultimate conclusion: yes, you can go home again, even if in a qualified way.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "It is disconcerting to find yourself so simultaneously in your element and out of it. I can enumerate all manner of minutiae that mark me out as an American—which of the fifty states has a unicameral legislature, what a squeeze play is in baseball, who played Captain Kangaroo on TV. I even know about two-thirds of the words to 'The Star-Spangled Banner,' which is more than some people know who have sung it publicly."

Title: "Coming Home" Location: Fifth paragraph / After the introduction and before the hardware store anecdote Significance: This is one of a series of paragraphs that show the reader how it may seem impossible to come home, with the focus here on how there is a difference between feeling American and America actually feeling like home. This same theme is repeated after the hardware store anecdote, where Bryson notes that he felt more American in England. One of the curious things about Bryson's essay seen here is that he begins with the other viewpoint, that you cannot go home again, and indeed most of his essay is devoted to how much things have changed.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "I once joked in a book that there are three things you can't do in life. You can't beat the phone company, you can't make a waiter see you until he is ready to see you, and you can't go home again. Since the spring of 1995, I have been quietly, even gamely, reassessing point number three."

Title: "Coming Home" Location: First paragraph Significance: This introductory paragraph humorously sets out the central question of the essay—can you go home again?—and presents Bryson's qualified yes that is the theme of the piece.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "Happily, there is a flipside to this. The many good things about America also took on a bewitching air of novelty. I was as dazzled as any newcomer by the famous ease and convenience of daily life, the giddying abundance of absolutely everything, the boundless friendliness of strangers, the wondrous unfillable vastness of an American basement, the delight of encountering waitresses and other service providers who actually seemed to enjoy their work, the curiously giddying notion that ice is not a luxury item and that rooms can have more than one electrical socket."

Title: "Coming Home" Location: Fourteenth paragraph / Just before Bryson discusses what is still the same Significance: This is one of a series of paragraphs that show the reader how it may seem impossible to come home, and the only really positive such paragraph; while previous paragraphs have emphasized Bryson's disorientation in America, the focus here is on how the positives of America were novel to him as to any immigrant. One of the curious things about Bryson's essay seen here is that he begins with the other viewpoint, that you cannot go home again, and indeed most of his essay is devoted to how much things have changed.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "In my case, the problem was intensified by the fact that I had left as a youth and was returning in middle age. All those things that you do as an adult—take out mortgages, have children, accumulate pension plans, take an interest in the state of your guttering—I had only ever done in England. Things like furnaces and storm windows were, in an American context, the preserve of my father. So finding myself suddenly in charge of an old New England house, with its mysterious pipes and thermostats, its temperamental garbage disposal and life-threatening automatic garage door, was both unnerving and rather exhilarating."

Title: "Coming Home" Location: Fourth paragraph / After the introduction and before the hardware store anecdote Significance: This is one of a series of paragraphs that show the reader how it may seem impossible to come home, with the focus here on how Bryson himself has changed. This idea of how adult life in America is as new to Bryson as any immigrant also informs the hardware store anecdote. One of the curious things about Bryson's essay seen here is that he begins with the other viewpoint, that you cannot go home again, and indeed most of his essay is devoted to how much things have changed.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "So, on balance, I was wrong. You can go home again. Just bring extra money for road maps and remember to ask for spackle."

Title: "Coming Home" Location: Last paragraph / Conclusion Significance: Bryson presents the ultimate theme of his essay by answering the question posed in the first paragraph: can you go home again? His answer is a qualified yes. It is indeed possible to "go home again," as the unchanged American things listed in the previous paragraph suggests; but it is important to accept the changes that have occurred, as the mention of spackle and now-paid-for road maps implies. This ending also gives a sense of unity to the piece, as the road maps and spackle are both directly referenced in earlier paragraphs.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "In May of that year, after nearly two decades in England, I moved back to the United States with my English wife and four children. We settled in Hanover, New Hampshire, for no other reason than that it seemed an awfully nice place. Founded in 1761, it is a friendly, well-ordered, prettily steepled community with a big central green, an old-fashioned Main Street, and a rich and prestigious university, Dartmouth College, whose benignly dominant presence gives the town a backdrop of graceful buildings, an air of privileged endeavor, and the presence of five thousand students, not one of whom can be trusted to cross a road in safety. With this came other attractions—good schools, an excellent bookstore and library, a venerable movie theater (The Nugget, founded in 1916), a good choice of restaurants, and a convivial bar called Murphy's. Helplessly beguiled, we bought a house near the center of town and moved in."

Title: "Coming Home" Location: Second paragraph / Introduction Significance: This introductory paragraph describes the setting of the essay and allows the reader to understand the context in which the writer could pose the question "Can you go home again?"

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "Coming back to your native land after an absence of many years is a surprisingly unsettling business, a little like waking from a long coma. Time, you discover, has wrought changes that leave you feeling mildly foolish and out of touch. You proffer hopelessly inadequate sums when making small purchases. You puzzle over ATM machines and automated gas pumps and pay phones, and are astounded to discover, by means of a stern grip on your elbow, that gas station road maps are no longer free."

Title: "Coming Home" Location: Third paragraph / Shortly after the introduction Significance: This is one of a series of paragraphs that show the reader how it may seem impossible to come home, with the focus here on how things have changed in America in Bryson's absence. One of the curious things about Bryson's essay seen here is that he begins with the other viewpoint, that you cannot go home again, and indeed most of his essay is devoted to how much things have changed.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "All this was a shock to me. Although I was always very happy in Britain, I never stopped thinking of America as home, in the fundamental sense of the term. It was where I came from, what I really understood, the base against which all else was measured. "In a funny way nothing makes you feel more like a native of your own country than to live where nearly everyone is not. For twenty years, being an American was my defining quality. It was how I was identified, differentiated. I even got a job on the strength of it once when, in a moment of youthful audacity, I asserted to a managing editor of the London Times that I would be the only person on his staff who could reliably spell Cincinnati. (And it was so.)"

Title: "Coming Home" Location: Twelfth and thirteenth paragraphs / Immediately after the hardware store anecdote Significance: This is one of a series of paragraphs that show the reader how it may seem impossible to come home, with the focus here on how there is a difference between feeling American and America actually feeling like home. One of the curious things about Bryson's essay seen here is that he begins with the other viewpoint, that you cannot go home again, and indeed most of his essay is devoted to how much things have changed.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "As we drove to the restaurant, he told me how he had located me. There were five high schools and one parochial school in Grand Rapids at the time. He had gone to the principal's office at South High and asked, 'You have a Leslie King, Jr., in school here?' The secretary had said no. 'Well, do you have a Junior Ford here?' They told him they did and added that I worked part-time in the restaurant across the street."

Title: "Meeting My Father for the First Time" Location: After the description of Ford's biological father's car Significance: This detail—showing Ford's biological father not even knowing his son's name and assuming that, despite having done exactly nothing for his son, Ford would still be named after him—furthers the characterization of the biological father as uncaring, arrogant, and presumptuous.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "Our talk over lunch was superficial. My father knew I was an athlete and wanted to know all about my playing football at South High. We didn't mention the divorce or anything else disagreeable. Leaving the restaurant, we drove back to South High, where my father handed me a $25. 'Now, buy yourself something—something you want that you can't afford otherwise,' he said. Then with a wave, he and his wife were gone."

Title: "Meeting My Father for the First Time" Location: After the description of how Ford's father found his son's location Significance: The "superficial" talk characterizes Ford's biological father as being uninterested in actually emotionally connecting with his son, emphasizing the passage's central message that he is an uncaring, apathetic man with regards to his son. The specific detail about how much Ford's biological father gives him and his pretentious attitude as he does so, combined with the earlier detail about how much more money he owed Ford in child support, shows that Ford's biological father is presumptuous and arrogant even as he shirks his responsibilities.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "That night was one of the most difficult of my life. I don't recall the words I used to tell my parents what had happened, but I remember that the conversation was a loving and consoling one. My stepfather loved me as much as he loved his own three sons. I knew how much he wanted to help me and how lacking in financial resources he was. Nothing could erase the image I gained of my real father that day: a carefree, well-to-do man who didn't really give a damn about the hopes and dreams of his firstborn son. When I went to be that night, I broke down and cried."

Title: "Meeting My Father for the First Time" Location: Conclusion Significance: This is an emphatic conclusion where, for the first time in the excerpt, Ford tells ("My stepfather loved me") rather than shows (the previous details about his biological father) his characterization. This serves as an emotional outpour, but one effective only because all the showing in the earlier parts of the passage help us understand where Ford's emotions are coming from. It also helps the focus stay on Ford's biological as opposed to adoptive father.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "I looked him in the eye. 'I'm working,' I said. "'Ask your boss if you can get off,' he persisted. "Bill Skougis told me it was all right. My father took me outside to a new Lincoln. A woman was sitting inside; he introduced her as his wife. They'd taken the train to Detroit from Wyoming, where they lived, had purchased the car, and now they were driving home through Grand Rapids. "'Where shall we go for lunch?' he asked. "'The Cherry Inn,' I said."

Title: "Meeting My Father for the First Time" Location: Fifth to ninth paragraphs / After his father introduces himself and before he gives Ford money Significance: The significance of this passage lies in the specific details that characterize Ford and his biological father and help us understand what point Ford is making about them both. Even in the clutches of the Great Depression, the biological father is able to buy a Lincoln, a luxury car, simply to drive home. He must be immensely rich, unlike the poor Fords; the fact that the autobiography includes this detail at all means that he or his wife told Ford about this, either not thinking or not caring about how Ford would respond. This single detail reveals the predominant characterization of Ford's father: uncaring and wasteful. Meanwhile, Ford's choice of restaurant sounds humble and low-cost. This characterizes Ford as not well-to-do and not wasteful.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "My playing football and getting my name in the papers led to my biological father finding me. He surprised me one day when I was working in a hamburger stand. "My job was to slap hamburgers on the grill, handle the cash register, and wash dishes. One day, at noon, I was behind the counter in my regular spot near the register when I noticed a man standing by the candy display case. He'd been there fifteen or twenty minutes without saying a word and he was staring at me. Finally, he came over."

Title: "Meeting My Father for the First Time" Location: First and second paragraphs Significance: The passage introduces the character of Ford's father, although we know nothing for sure about him yet. Ford's part-time job at a hamburger stand implies that he is likely not well-off; this will be a theme later in the work, when his biological father's wealth and arrogance is contrasted with his adoptive one's poverty and kindness.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "'I'm Leslie King, your father," he said. "Can I take you to lunch?" "I was stunned and didn't know what to say. When I was twelve or thirteen, Mother had told me that Gerald R. Ford, Sr., was not my real father, but we hadn't really discussed the situation at home. I knew that the court in Omaha had ordered my father to pay her between $50 and $75 per month for child support. He hadn't paid what he owed. His own father, my grandfather, had assumed that obligation. But when Grandfather died, the checks stopped coming in. Until now, my father had made no attempt to get in touch with us."

Title: "Meeting My Father for the First Time" Location: Third and fourth paragraphs / Before Ford's biological father explains how he bought the car Significance: We have the first specific detail in the work, the monetary quantity of child support that the court declared Ford's biological father to owe (and which he did not pay). This information, given early on, both characterizes Ford's father as irresponsible and immoral and later explains how little the $25 he hands to Ford really is compared to what he should really be paying.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "Hugh turned to the school's guidance counselor, who knew of a family whose son had recently left for college. And so he spent another year living with strangers and not mentioning his birthday. While I wouldn't have wanted to do it myself, I can't help but envy the sense of fortitude he gained from the experience. After graduating from college, he moved to France knowing only the phrase, 'Do you know French?' - a question guaranteed to get you nowhere unless you also speak the language."

Title: "Remembering My Childhood on the Continent of Africa" Location: After Hugh's stay with the beer enthusiast family Significance: This passage is one of the many paragraphs centering on the contrast between Sedaris's "boring" childhood and Hugh's atypical one, and Sedaris's envy of Hugh for that, which pervades most of the essay. Here, Sedaris is jealous of Hugh for having had to live independently from such a young age (and in contrast to Sedaris himself, whose stay with a senile grandmother described earlier is the most adventurous thing he appears to have done as a teen). Such paragraphs help dramatize the focus of the story, Hugh's African adventures, by contrasting them with Sedaris's life (which is more-or-less that of most of his readers). Also, by revealing the depth of Sedaris's knowledge about Hugh, it foreshadows the ending, which goes that Sedaris overcame his jealousy by becoming close friends with Hugh, incorporating his friend's memories into his own view of the world, and adventuring in Africa vicariously.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "I wouldn't have minded growing up in a houseful of servants. In North Carolina it wasn't unusual to have a once-a-week maid, but Hugh's family had houseboys, a word that never fails to charge my imagination. They had cooks and drivers, and guards who occupied a gatehouse, armed with machetes. Seeing as I had regularly petitioned my parents for an electric fence, the business with the guards strikes me as the last word in quiet sophistication. Having protections paid for the by the government is even better, as it suggests your safety is of interest to someone other than yourself."

Title: "Remembering My Childhood on the Continent of Africa" Location: After the contrast between Hugh and Sedaris's experiences with the same movie Significance: This passage is one of the many paragraphs centering on the contrast between Sedaris's "boring" childhood and Hugh's atypical one, and Sedaris's envy of Hugh for that, which pervades most of the essay. Here, the contrast is about security; Sedaris envies Hugh for being protected by the government, as it suggests to him that Hugh is an important person while he himself is not. Such paragraphs help dramatize the focus of the story, Hugh's African adventures, by contrasting them with Sedaris's life (which is more-or-less that of most of his readers). Also, by revealing the depth of Sedaris's knowledge about Hugh, it foreshadows the ending, which goes that Sedaris overcame his jealousy by becoming close friends with Hugh, incorporating his friend's memories into his own view of the world, and adventuring in Africa vicariously.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "Unlike me, he left the theater two hours later, to find a dead man hanging from a telephone pole at the far end of the unpaved parking lot. None of the people who'd seen the movie seemed to care about the dead man. They stared at him for a moment or two and then headed home saying they'd never seen anything as crazy as that talking Volkswagen. His father was late picking him up, so Hugh just stood there for an hour, watching the dead man dangle in the breeze. The death was not reported in the newspaper, and when Hugh related the story to his friend, they said, 'You saw the movie about the talking car?'"

Title: "Remembering My Childhood on the Continent of Africa" Location: After the description of Hugh and Sedaris's contrasting field trips Significance: This passage is another of the many paragraphs centering on the contrast between Sedaris's "boring" childhood and Hugh's atypical one, although Sedaris's envy of Hugh is not evident here as it is elsewhere. Here, the contrast is about their experiences of watching the same movie. Such paragraphs help dramatize the focus of the story, Hugh's African adventures, by contrasting them with Sedaris's life (which is more-or-less that of most of his readers). Also, by revealing the depth of Sedaris's knowledge about Hugh, it foreshadows the ending, which goes that Sedaris overcame his jealousy by becoming close friends with Hugh, incorporating his friend's memories into his own view of the world, and adventuring in Africa vicariously.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "When I'm told such stories, it's all I can do to hold back my feelings of jealousy. An Ethiopian slaughterhouse. Some people have all the luck. When I was in elementary school, the best we ever got was a trip to Old Salem or Colonial Williamsburg, one of those preserved brick villages where time supposedly stands still and someone earns his living as the town crier."

Title: "Remembering My Childhood on the Continent of Africa" Location: After the description of Hugh's slaughterhouse field trip Significance: This passage is one of the many paragraphs centering on the contrast between Sedaris's "boring" childhood and Hugh's atypical one, and Sedaris's envy of Hugh for that, which pervades most of the essay. Here, the contrast is about the type of their field trips. Such paragraphs help dramatize the focus of the story, Hugh's African adventures, by contrasting them with Sedaris's life (which is more-or-less that of most of his readers). Also, by revealing the depth of Sedaris's knowledge about Hugh, it foreshadows the ending, which goes that Sedaris overcame his jealousy by becoming close friends with Hugh, incorporating his friend's memories into his own view of the world, and adventuring in Africa vicariously.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "Among my personal highlights is the memory of having my picture taken with Uncle Paul, the legally blind host of a Raleigh children's television show. Among Hugh's is the memory having his picture taken with Buzz Aldrin on the last leg of the astronaut's world tour. The man who had walked on the moon placed his hand on Hugh's shoulder and offered to sign his autograph book. The man who led Wake County schoolchildren in afternoon song turned at the sound of my voice and asked, 'So what's your name, princess?'"

Title: "Remembering My Childhood on the Continent of Africa" Location: After the discussion of the pythons and coups that Hugh survived Significance: This passage is one of the many paragraphs centering on the contrast between Sedaris's "boring" childhood and Hugh's atypical one, and Sedaris's envy of Hugh for that, which pervades most of the essay. Here, the contrast is between the people who visited the schools of both and how differently the two were received; Sedaris again envies Hugh for being so important. Such paragraphs help dramatize the focus of the story, Hugh's African adventures, by contrasting them with Sedaris's life (which is more-or-less that of most of his readers). Also, by revealing the depth of Sedaris's knowledge about Hugh, it foreshadows the ending, which goes that Sedaris overcame his jealousy by becoming close friends with Hugh, incorporating his friend's memories into his own view of the world, and adventuring in Africa vicariously.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "One of his field trips was literally a trip to a field where the class watched a wrinkled man fill his mouth with rotten goat mean and feed it to a pack of waiting hyenas. On another occasion they were taken to examine the bloodied bedroom curtains hanging in the palace of the former dictator. There were tamer trips, to textile factories and sugar refineries, but my favorite is always the slaughterhouse."

Title: "Remembering My Childhood on the Continent of Africa" Location: Before the description of Hugh's field trip to the slaughterhouse / Introduction Significance: Sedaris's introduction to Hugh hooks the reader and immediately reveals a central idea of the essay, the fact that Hugh has led an exciting, atypical life—in stark contrast to Sedaris's, who reports Hugh's field trips with a sense of wonderment (e.g. the intensifier "literally"). The fact that Sedaris knows so much about Hugh's field trips may also foreshadow the conclusion, which goes that Sedaris has overcome his envy of Hugh by becoming close friends with Hugh and eventually incorporating Hugh's adventures into his own memories, living in Africa vicariously.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "It is with pleasure that I sometimes recall the dead man's purpled face or the report of the handgun ringing in my ears as I studied the blood pooling beneath the dead white piglet. On the way back from the slaughterhouse, we stopped for Cokes in the village of Mojo, where the gas station owner had arranged a few tables and chairs beneath a dying canopy of vines. It was late afternoon by the time we returned to the school, where a second bus carried me to the foot of Coffeeboard Road. Once there, I walked through a grove of eucalyptus trees and alongside a bald pasture of starving cattle, past the guard napping in his gatehouse, and into the waiting arms of my monkey."

Title: "Remembering My Childhood on the Continent of Africa" Location: Final paragraph / Conclusion Significance: These are all events previously mentioned in the context of Hugh (the dead man hanging, the slaughterhouse field trip, the primitive theater, the guards with machetes, the pet monkey), but now attributed to Sedaris himself. The passage thus demonstrates with imagery Sedaris's claim that he has become satisfied with living his friend's adventures vicariously and no longer envies Hugh, which is the central point of the essay.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "Theirs was the life I dreamt of during my vacation in eastern North Carolina. Hugh's family was hobnobbing with chiefs and sultans while I ate hush puppies at the Sanitary Fish Market in Morehead City, a beach towel wrapped like hijab around my head. Someone unknown to me was very likely standing in a muddy ditch and dreaming of an evening spent sitting in a clean family restraint, drinking iced tea and working his way through an extra-large seaman's platter, but that did not concern me, as it mean I should have been happy with what I had."

Title: "Remembering My Childhood on the Continent of Africa" Location: Second-to-last paragraph / Immediately before the conclusion Significance: The irony of Sedaris's envy of Hugh is finally made explicit here. Sedaris is dissatisfied with his life and dreams of living as Hugh does, even though he is part of the American middle class and that alone would be the dreams of billions of people around the world. This irony may pave the ground for the final conclusion that follows in the next paragraph, which goes that Sedaris did not "surrender to bitterness" but found satisfaction in living vicariously through his friend's experiences. By (unlike in his teenaged years) becoming aware of his own privileged position, Sedaris is able to hold a less envious view of Hugh.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "'That sounds fascinating.' It's a compliment one rarely receives when describing adolescence spent drinking Icees at the North Hills Mall. No fifteen-foot python ever wandered onto my school's basketball court. I begged, I prayed nightly, but it just never happened. Neither did I get to witness a military coup in which forces sympathetic to the colonel arrived late at night to assassinate my next-door-neighbor."

Title: "Remembering My Childhood on the Continent of Africa" Location: Shortly after the discussion of the security of Hugh's African residence Significance: This passage is one of the many paragraphs centering on the contrast between Sedaris's "boring" childhood and Hugh's atypical one, and Sedaris's envy of Hugh for that, which pervades most of the essay. Here, the contrast is between the dull security of Sedaris's American adolescence with the perilous natural and human environment of Hugh's African adolescence. Such paragraphs help dramatize the focus of the story, Hugh's African adventures, by contrasting them with Sedaris's life (which is more-or-less that of most of his readers). Also, by revealing the depth of Sedaris's knowledge about Hugh, it foreshadows the ending, which goes that Sedaris overcame his jealousy by becoming close friends with Hugh, incorporating his friend's memories into his own view of the world, and adventuring in Africa vicariously.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "'Joanne. It's Daddy's story. Shall Daddy not tell you any more stories?' Her broad face looked at him through sifted light, astounded. 'This is what happened, then. Roger Skunk and his mommy went home and they heard Woo-oo, woooo-oo and it was the choo-choo train bringing Daddy Skunk home from Boston. And they had lima beans, celery, liver, mashed potatoes, and Pie-Oh-My for dessert. And when Roger Skunk was in bed Mommy Skunk came up and hugged him and said he smelled like her little baby skunk again and she loved him very much. And that's the end of the story.'"

Title: "Should Wizard Hit Mommy?" Location: A little before Jo demands that the Wizard should hit Mommy Skunk Significance: Jack's chosen ending to the story, which has Mother Skunk embrace Roger for who he is, implies his own desire to be accepted as his genuine self rather than the social roles that are his "cage" (and force the skunk to smell like roses). The refeence to lima beans, celery, and liver emphasize that this short story takes place in an normal American family, and suggests that Jack's family's dysfunction may hold for much of America as a whole.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "Jo made the crying face again, but this time without a trace of sincerity. This annoyed Jack. Downstairs some more furniture rumbled. Clare shouldn't move heavy things; she was six months pregnant. It would be their third."

Title: "Should Wizard Hit Mommy?" Location: After Jack calls Roger Skunk Roger Fish Significance: Jo is again feigning her reactions, even though she is uninterested. This is another way the short story's motif of the familial "cage" that imprisons Jack appears; nobody is genuinely interested in Jack, even though the skunk story seems to draw on his own experiences and may be more closely tied to his own identity than most other Roger Creatures. Clare's work reminds Jack to finish the story quickly. If the story is indeed tied to Jack's identity, his responsibilities toward his wife is another way the "cage" imprisons him.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "'That was a stupid mommy.' "'It was not,' he said with rare emphasis, and believed, from her expression, that she realised he was defending his own mother to her, or something as odd. "Now I want you to put your big heavy head in the pillow and have a good long nap." He adjusted the shade so not even a crack of day showed, and tiptoed to the door, in the pretense that she was already asleep. But when he turned, she was crouching on top of the covers and staring at him."

Title: "Should Wizard Hit Mommy?" Location: After Jack completes his new story Significance: Jack reveals that the new Roger Skunk story draws on his unstated personal history; we know that he was bullied, and it may be that the Mother Skunk was modeled on his actual mother who helped him regain his confidence. Jo's rejection of the new Roger Skunk and his insistence that Mother Skunk becomes more poignant, as Jo is in essence rejecting a part of her father's identity, and further contributes to Jack's feeling of being "caged." Jo's outright refusal to go to sleep unless the story is changed shows her refusal to accept Jack as he is.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "'Roses!' Roger Fish cried. And the wizard said, very cranky, 'That'll be seven pennies.' "'Daddy.' "'What?' "'Roger Skunk. You said Roger Fish.' "'Yes. Skunk.' "'You said Roger Fish. Wasn't that silly?'"

Title: "Should Wizard Hit Mommy?" Location: After Jack realizes Jo is not paying attention Significance: There may be two reasons 1. Jack is so shocked by the realization that Jo is not paying attention that he has momentarily forgotten the name of the character 2. Jack is hurt enough by the realization that Jo is not paying attention that he intentionally says Roger Fish to test his daughter In either case, it shows that seeing Clare's uninterested face in Jack has shook him to some degree, emphasizing the idea that

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "'The wizard, the wizard,' Jo shouted, and sat right up, and a Little Golden Book spilled from the bed. "'Now, Jo. Daddy's telling the story. Do you want to tell Daddy the story?' "'No. You me.' "'Then lie down and be sleepy.' "Her head relapsed onto the pillow and she said, "'Out of your head.'"

Title: "Should Wizard Hit Mommy?" Location: After Roger Skunk meets the Owl / Before Roger meets the Wizard Significance: The mention of the Little Golden Book implies that this family is a very typical American one. Updike implies that Jack's family's concealed dysfunction is not something strange or unusual for American families.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "Jo was starting to fuss with her hands and look out of the window, at the crack of day that showed under the shade. She thought the story was all over. Jack didn't like women when they took anything for granted; he liked them apprehensive, hanging on his words. 'Now, Jo, are you listening?'"

Title: "Should Wizard Hit Mommy?" Location: After Roger Skunk's smell is transformed Significance: The story has been pointless; Jo is looking out the window and instead of sleeping. This deepens Jack's sense of futility that informs his attitude towards Jo and Clare and his perception of the "cage." The fact that Jo believes the story over intensifies Jack's feeling of uselessness and isolation; he is being taken for granted instead of being wanted and pursued. The reference to women generally here is on the one hand clearly misogyny, but in the context of his family it may also be a sign of frustration toward the two women (Clare and Jo) who no longer seem to want him and take his role as husband and father for granted.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "'And then a tiny little old man came out, with a long white beard and a pointed blue hat, and said, 'Eh? Whatzis? Whatcher want? You smell awful.' The wizard's voice was one of Jack's own favourite effects; he did it by scrunching up his face and somehow whining through his eyes, which felt for the interval rheumy. He felt being an old man suited him."

Title: "Should Wizard Hit Mommy?" Location: After Roger meets the Owl / Before Jack calls Roger Skunk Roger Fish Significance: Jack's feeling that "being an old man suit[s] him" may imply that he feels weak, perhaps even decrepit, like an old man. This would emphasize the estrangement Jack feels from his family that deepens as the story goes on.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "'Are magic spells real?' This was a new phase, just this last month, a reality phase. When he told her spiders eat bugs, she turned to her mother and asked, 'Do they really?' and when Clare told her God was in the sky and all around them, she turned to her father and insisted, with a sly yet eager smile, 'Is He really?' "'They're real in stories,' Jack answered curtly. She had made him miss a beat in the narrative."

Title: "Should Wizard Hit Mommy?" Location: After Roger meets the Owl / Before Roger meets the Wizard Significance: Jo's "reality phase" suggests that as she grows up, she is beginning to doubt whether her parents are always right. Jack's "cuty" response to her and his irritation at having missed a beat in the story implies that he is not adapting well to this phase and to his daughter's growing up, and this emphasizes the theme of Jack's isolation that emerges more strongly as the story goes on.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "The little girl (not so little any more; the bumps her feet made under the covers were halfway down the bed, their big double bed that they let her be in for naps and when she was sick) had at last arranged herself, and from the way her fat face deep in the pillow shone in the sunlight sifting through the drawn shades, it did not seem fantastic that some magic would occur, and she would take her nap like an infant of two. Her brother, Bobby, was two, and already asleep with his bottle. "

Title: "Should Wizard Hit Mommy?" Location: After the introduction to the Roger Creature story Significance: Jack hopes that Jo might go to sleep for once today. This may symbolize his hopes that he might again be respected by his family for who he is; if so, the ending, when Jo refuses to go to bed and outright leaves the room, would signify Jo's failure as a father even more. Jack contrasts Jo with her little brother Bobby, who is already asleep; this may suggest that Jack is having trouble facing the fact that his daughter is growing up (cf. the "reality phase" mentioned below), which is contributing to his feeling of isolation.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "'Roger...' Jo squeezed her eyes shut and smiled to be thinking she was thinking. Her eyes opened, her mother's blue. 'Skunk,' she said firmly."

Title: "Should Wizard Hit Mommy?" Location: After the introduction, before the Roger Skunk story begins Significance: This is the first mention of Jo resembling Clare. While neutral here, it foreshadows further comparisons between Jo and Clare, ones which will be markedly negative.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "He paused as a rapt expression widened out from his daughter's nostrils, forcing her eyebrows up and her lower lip down in a wide noiseless grin, an expression in which Jack was startled to recognise his wife feigning pleasure at cocktail parties. 'And all of a sudden,' he whispered, 'the whole inside of the wizard's house was full of the smell of — roses!'"

Title: "Should Wizard Hit Mommy?" Location: Before Jack calls Roger Skunk Roger Fish Significance: This is the second time that Jack sees Clare in Jo, and the first negative time. When he realizes that Jo is only pretending to be interested in the story, Jack's insecurity and feeling of isolation that is the theme of the story intensifies. The comparison between Jo and Clare suggests that for Jack, both his wife and his daughter seem only to "feign pleasure" and are not truly interested in him. This ultimately leads to him seeing the entire family as a "cage" and refusing to help Clare in the ending.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "'Whenever he would go out to play,' Jack continued with zest, remembering certain humiliations of his own childhood, 'all of the other tiny animals would cry, 'Uh-oh, here comes Roger Stinky Skunk,' and they would run away, and Roger Skunk would stand there all alone, and two little round tears would fall from his eyes.'"

Title: "Should Wizard Hit Mommy?" Location: Beginning of the Roger Skunk story / Before Roger Skunk meets the Owl Significance: This is our first indication that the Roger Skunk story may mean something more to Jack than just a bedtime story; he has been bullied as a child and is drawing on his own experiences to create the skunk character. By mentioning this early on, Updike makes Jo's rejection of the skunk story even more poignant; Jo may well be rejecting something important to her father's identity.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "Sitting on the bed beside her, Jack felt the covers tug as her legs switched tensely. He was pleased with this moment—he was telling her something true, something she must know—and had no wish to hurry on. But downstairs a chair scraped, and he realised he must get down to help Clare paint the living-room woodwork."

Title: "Should Wizard Hit Mommy?" Location: Beginning of the Roger Skunk story / Before Roger meets the Owl Significance: The fact that the Roger Skunk story tells something important ("something true, something she must know") about Jack himself is stressed, which makes Jo's later rejection of the story more poignant; Roger Skunk may well have something to do with Jo's identity. Clare's work reminding Jack that he must finish the story quickly suggests that his obligations as a husband is restricting him from fully embracing who he is (i.e. the skunk story). This implies the image of the familial "cage" that concludes the story. Jack feels pleased because Jo seems to be listening, which foreshadows his future anger when he realizes his daughter is feigning interest.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "'That was a long story,' Clare said. "'The poor kid,' he answered, and with utter weariness watched his wife labour. The woodwork, a cage of moldings and rails and baseboards all around them, was half old tan and half new ivory and he felt caught in an ugly middle position, and though he as well felt his wife's presence in the cage with him, he did not want to speak with her, work with her, touch her, anything."

Title: "Should Wizard Hit Mommy?" Location: Final paragraph / Conclusion Significance: This final paragraph explicitly presents the themes of the short story. After Jo's refusal to accept the Roger Skunk story, Jack feels that he has no place in his family outside the "cage"—the social and familiar norms that constrain him. Weary from his rejection, and perhaps feeling that Clare (to whom Jo is often compared) will not embrace a more faithful version of himself any more than Jo did, he does not have the heart to help Clare at all. This contrasts with Jo's feeling of responsibility for Clare in earlier parts of the work, thus emphasizing Jack's despair at being rejected by his family.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "In the evenings and for Saturday naps like today's, Jack told his daughter Jo a story out of his head. This custom, begun when she was two, was itself now nearly two years old, and his head felt empty."

Title: "Should Wizard Hit Mommy?" Location: First paragraph / Introduction Significance: The first paragraph introduces the central event of the short story: the tale that Jack tells Jo. It already foreshadows the implicit theme of the story—Jack's alienation from his family—by noting that "his head [feels] empty" even when telling his own daughter a bedtime story.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "Each new story was a slight variation of a basic tale: a small creature, usually named Roger (Roger Fish, Roger Squirrel, Roger Chipmunk), had some problem and went with it to the wise old owl. The owl told him to go to the wizard, and the wizard performed a magic spell that solved the problem, demanding in payment a number of pennies greater than the number that Roger Creature had, but in the same breath directing the animal to a place where the extra pennies could be found. Then Roger was so happy he played many games with other creatures, and went home to his mother just in time to hear the train whistle that brought his daddy home from Boston. Jack described their supper, and the story was over. Working his way through this scheme was especially fatiguing on Saturday, because Jo never fell asleep in naps any more, and knowing this made the rite seem futile."

Title: "Should Wizard Hit Mommy?" Location: First paragraph / Introduction Significance: The first paragraph introduces the customary ending of the Roger Creature story. This allows the reader to better understand the meaning of Jack changing the story and why Jo responds so badly to it. There is more negative foreshadowing; the storytelling seems pointless now ("the rite seem[s] futile") because Jo does not fall asleep anymore. Given the rest of the story, especially the ending where Jack refuses to help Clare, this may imply that Jack feels his role in the family is itself becoming "futile."

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "He closed the door and went downstairs. Clare had spread the newspapers and opened the paint can and, wearing an old shirt of his on top of her maternity smock, was stroking the chair rail with a dipped brush. Above him footsteps vibrated and he called, 'Joanne! Shall I come up there and spank you?' The footsteps hesitated."

Title: "Should Wizard Hit Mommy?" Location: Following the end of the Roger Skunk story Significance: Jo's refusal to sleep signals her refusal to accept her father's new story, that is her father acting beyond his social role, as well as the patriarchal respect her father asks of her. This intensifies the feeling of the "cage" that is the central theme of this short story. In the end, Jack is reduced to threatening physical force to maintain his authority. This too might deepen the feeling of the "cage" for Jack; he has no way to convince Jo to respect him and his new story out of her free will.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "'Tomorrow, I want you to tell me the story that that wizard took that magic wand and hit that mommy'—her plump arms chopped forcefully—'right over the head.' "'No. That's not the story. The point is that the little skunk loved his mommy more than he loved all the other little animals and she knew what was right.' "No. Tomorrow you say he hit that mommy. Do it.' She kicked her legs up and sat down on the bed with a great heave and complaint of springs, as she had done hundreds of times before, except that this time she did not laugh."

Title: "Should Wizard Hit Mommy?" Location: Just before Jack goes down to meet Clare Significance: Jo's refusal to accept the Roger Skunk story is, in a way, a refusal of her father as a whole when he tries to break out of his expected roles. This excerpt thus supports the story's central theme. While Jack usually seems to imagine himself as Roger Skunk (e.g. the references to childhood humiliations and Mother Skunk being like his own mother), here, Jack seems to argue that Roger Skunk should be a model for Jo as well; she should love her father more than anyone, and her father knows what is right. That is, Jack wants Jo to respect him as a traditional patriarch. Jo rejects this, and Jack feels trapped.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "'Roger Skunk's mommy said, 'What's that awful smell?''" "'Wha-at?'" "'And, Roger Skunk said, 'It's me, Mommy. I smell like roses.' And she said, 'Who made you smell like that?' And he said, 'The wizard,' and she said, 'Well, of all the nerve. You come with me and we're going right back to that very awful wizard.''" "Jo sat up, her hands dabbling in the air with genuine fright. 'But Daddy, then he said about the other little animals run away!' Her hands skittered off, into the underbrush."

Title: "Should Wizard Hit Mommy?" Location: Just before Jo rejects Jack's new ending Significance: If Roger Skunk is indeed an avatar of Jack, as Jack implies when he creates the character drawing on his childhood experiences, the skunk being forced to give up his smell symbolizes the "cage": the pressures on Jack from family to give up his identity and play a role. Jack's new ending has Roger Skunk regain his smell. This implies that Jack, too, might be able to embrace who he sees himself to really be, and perhaps escape the "cage."

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "'All right. He said, 'But Mommy, all the other little animals run away,' and she said, 'I don't care. You smelled the way a little skunk should have and I'm going to take you right back to that wizard,' and she took an umbrella and went back with Roger Skunk and hit that wizard right over the head." "'No,' Jo said, and put her hand out to touch his lips, yet even in her agitation did not quite dare to stop the source of truth. Inspiration came to her. 'Then the wizard hit her on the head and did not change that little skunk back.'" "'No,' he said. 'The wizard said 'O.K.' and Roger Skunk did not smell of roses any more. He smelled very bad again.'"

Title: "Should Wizard Hit Mommy?" Location: Soon after Jack announces his new ending Significance: If Jack identifies with Roger Skunk, and Roger Skunk's mother changing his smell back symbolizes a family that embraces Jack for who he is, Jo's rejection of his alternate ending symbolizes that she is not ready to accept his father outside his role as father. Jo's concern for how the other little animals might see the skunk suggests that she upholds the pressure that Jacks to act as others expect. Jo affirms the "cage" where Jack feels himself confined.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "John, a sheep man I know, is tall and handsome and has an explosive temperament. He has a perfect intuition about people and sheep. They call him 'Highpockets,' because he's so long legged; his graceful stride matches the distances he has to cover. He says, 'Open space hasn't affected me at all. It's all the people moving in on it.'"

Title: "The Solace of Open Spaces" Location: After Ehrlich's description of Wyoming's natural environment Significance: Ehrlich uses the example of Highpockets intentionally because of his dignity ("tall and handsome," "perfect intuition," "graceful stride"), which she implies my have been influenced by Wyoming ("matches the distances he has to cover"). Yet Highpockets himself does not believe that the openness of Wyoming. His attitude is resolutely positive and human-centered: what has really made him who he is are "all the people moving on it." Highpockets thus becomes an example of the pride, ruggedness, dignity, and positivity of the people of Wyoming—which is what the excerpt seeks to show Wyoming people as being.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "The huge ranch he was born on takes up much of one county and spreads into another state; to put 100,000 miles on his pickup in three years and never leave home is not unusual. A friend of mine has an aunt who ranched on Powder River and didn't go off her place for eleven years. When her husband died, she quickly moved to town, bought a car, and drove around the States to see what she'd been missing."

Title: "The Solace of Open Spaces" Location: After Ehrlich's description of Wyoming's natural environment Significance: More emphasis on the openness of the Wyoming landscape, one of the points Ehrlich emphasizes (cf. "like galaxies") and a way in which Ehrlich suggests that Wyoming has influenced its people (cf. Highpockets' stride, the old ranch hand's comment)—which is her theme, of course.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "To live and work in this kind of open country, with its hundred mile views, is to lose the distinction between background and foreground. When I asked an older ranch hand to describe Wyoming's openness, he said, 'It's all a bunch of nothing - wind and rattlesnakes - and so much of it you can't tell where you're going or where you've been, and it don't make much difference.'"

Title: "The Solace of Open Spaces" Location: Fifth paragraph / After Ehrlich's description of Wyoming's natural environment Significance: Ehrlich supports her theme of the effect of Wyoming on its people by emphasizing how fundamental the environment of Wyoming is to the experience of Wyomingites ("lose the distinction between backgrouna and foreground"), then by remarking on its openness again.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "It's May and I've just awakened from a nap, curled against sagebrush the way my dog taught me to sleep - sheltered from the wind. a front is pulling the huge sky over me, and from the dark a hailstone has hit me on the head. I'm trailing a band of two thousand sheep across a stretch of Wyoming badlands, a fifty mile trip that takes five days because sheep shade up in hot sun and won't budge until it's cool. Bunched together now, and excited into a run by the storm, they drift across dry land, tumbling into draws like water, and surge out again onto the rugged, choppy plateaus that are the building blocks of this state."

Title: "The Solace of Open Spaces" Location: First paragraph Significance: With her mention of "front"s and "hailstone"s, Ehrlich introduces the harshness of the Wyoming landscape that is the setting and central theme of this excerpt. By mentioning the way she sleeps in the Wyoming wilderness and her knowledge of sheep behavior, Ehrlich establishes herself as an authority on Wyoming and its ways. This bolsters the credibility of her general statements about the people of Wyoming made later in the excerpt.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "Today the sun is out - only a few clouds billowing. In the east, where the sheep have started off without me, the benchland tilts up in a series of eroded red earthed mesas, planed flat on top by a million years of water; behind them, a bold line of muscular scarps rears up ten thousand feet to become the Big Horn Mountains. A tidal pattern is engraved into the ground, as if left by the sea that once covered this state. Canyons curve down like galaxies to meet the oncoming rush of flat land."

Title: "The Solace of Open Spaces" Location: Fourth paragraph / Before the paragraph where Ehrlich discusses what Wyomingites say about their state Significance: The sheer vastness ("like galaxies") of Wyoming emphasized in this paragraph stresses the harshness and openness of Wyoming that is key to Ehrlich's description of the state.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "Most characteristic of the state's landscape is what a developer euphemistically describes as 'indigenous growth right up your front door' - a reference to waterless stands of salt sage, snakes, jack rabbits, deer flies, red dust, a brief respite of wildflowers, dry washes, and no trees. In the Great Plains the vistas look like music, like Kyries of grass, but Wyoming seems to be the doing of a mad architect - tumbled and twisted, ribboned with faded, deathbed colors, thrust up and pulled down as if the place had been startled out of a deep sleep and thrown into a pure light."

Title: "The Solace of Open Spaces" Location: Last paragraph Significance: Ehrlich again emphasizes the harshness and twistedness of the Wyoming landscape. This supports her central theme, that Wyomingers have been shaped from the harshness of the physical environment they live in.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "The name Wyoming comes form an Indian word meaning "at the great plains," but the plains are really valleys, great arid valleys, sixteen hundred square miles, with the horizon bending up on all sides into mountain ranges. This gives the vastness a sheltering look."

Title: "The Solace of Open Spaces" Location: Second paragraph / Immediately after the paragraph where Ehrlich wakes up Significance: Ehrlich elaborates on the terrain of Wyoming, with the emphasis on "arid" notes the harshness of the state's terrain that is the key theme of the passage. The final sentence, however, is more positive—by noting that it has "a sheltering look," she echoes Highpockets and the other Wyoming people who have found home in this desolate land.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "Most people tell me they've simply driven through Wyoming, as if there were nothing to stop for. Or else they've skied in Jackson Hole, a place Wyomingites acknowledge uncomfortably because its green beauty and chic affluence are mismatched with the rest of the state. Most of Wyoming has a "leanto" look. Instead of big, roomy barns and Victorian houses, there are dugouts, low sheds, log cabins, sheep camps, and fence lines that look like driftwood blown haphazardly into place."

Title: "The Solace of Open Spaces" Location: Second-to-last paragraph / After the paragraph featuring quotes from Wyomingites Significance: Ehrlich again stresses that Wyoming is a harsh place, something hammered in from the very first paragraph of the excerpt. "Green beauty and chic affluence" are not representative of most of the state. This emphasizes that it is the harshness that has shaped Wyomingers. Given the earlier mention of the dignified Highpockets and the later mention of Wyomingites' determination, there is also implicit criticism of those "who simply drive through," which fits well with the pervading theme that Wyoming, as empty as it may seem, has changed its people for the better.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "People here still feel pride because they live in such a harsh place, part of the glamorous cowboy past, and they are determined not to be the victims of a mining dominated future."

Title: "The Solace of Open Spaces" Location: Second-to-last paragraph / After the paragraph featuring quotes from Wyomingites Significance: This sentence supports the central message that, as harsh as it is, Wyoming has shaped its people for the better. Ehrlich explicitly states that the people are part of a "glamorous" past, are "determined," and "feel pride"; this also connects to the cowboy-like rancher Highpockets mentioned elsewhere in the chapter. There is thus implicit criticism of those who "simply drive through."

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "Winter lasts six months here. Prevailing winds spill snowdrifts to the east, and new storms from the northwest replenish them. This white bulk is sometimes dizzying, even nauseating, to look at. At twenty, thirty, and forty degrees below zero, not only does your car not work, but neither do your mind and body. The landscape hardens into a dungeon of space. During the winter, while I was riding to find a new calf, my jeans froze to the saddle, and in the silence that such cold creates I felt like the first person on earth, or the last."

Title: "The Solace of Open Spaces" Location: Third paragraph / Soon after the paragraph where Ehrlich wakes up Significance: The imagery-rich description of Wyoming winter stresses the harshness of the state's nature, a central motif in this excerpt. Ehrlich's mention of how the winter made her feel "like the first person on earth, or the last" emphasizes the individualism and self-reliance that the environment of Wyoming fosters among Wyomingites, part of her theme of the effects Wyoming has had on its people.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "Home is about family; the people who will stand up for you and say, 'He's Korean.' It is about people who comfort you and tell you that your face is not flat. It is not about perfection; it is about trying to be a good person (I realize this now when I am volunteering). It is about getting opportunities and support, discipline and the chance to fail and be responsible."

Title: "What Is This Thing Called Family"? Location: Final paragraph/Conclusion Significance: Herrick here tells (as opposes to shows) the reader his definition of family, the central theme of the essay, and enhances his argument by summing up the anecdotes that he has introduced in earlier paragraphs (his sister standing up for him, his mother comforting her, his father teaching him to be a good person). The reference to his volunteering now, in particular, emphasizes that his family has shaped Herrick for the better (compared to the previous anecdote with his father in his "selfish teen years").

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "I remember an incident when I came home from grade school one day, sniffling and trying to conceal my tears after a day of particularly aggressive taunting - the subject at hand was my 'flat face.' It was hurtful and brought me to tears on the long walk home after the bus dropped me off. But it was also very strange to me because I was raised in a Caucasian family, so the boy taunting me looked like my cousins...why was he so mean? It was also confusing because I didn't have an Asian accent, nor did I speak Korean or any other Asian language. My favorite baseball team was the Oakland A's, my favorite player Reggie Jackson. I loved Star Wars, Batman, and eventually Atari - all things 70s. I felt normal (whatever that is). Many well-intentioned people also told me 'you're so American!' or 'you're not like other Asians I've met.' To this day I am wary of all these suspect declarations."

Title: "What Is This Thing Called Family?" Location: After Herrick's discussion of his sister protecting him Significance: This paragraph foreshadows his mother consoling him. There is also an emphasis here on American society "Other-ing" Herrick as a Korean adoptee (the implicit suggestions that Asians are not truly American, even as Herrick lists his hobbies that make his American-ness clear). This heightens Herrick's focus on family as something that will accept him as he is, as his mother will do, that contrasts with the stereotype-grounded judgments made by non-family.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "No family member, no matter how present or absent, fills just one role. My sister is the protector but also an inspiration for kindness. My mother is a support system but also the creative force. My father is a role model but also a support system. They are all hilarious and have great work ethics. I can only hope just an ounce of this rubbed off on me. I hope I can honor their names and lives, as well as the names and lives of my birth parents. I hope to instill similar notions of unconditional love with my own family, however we look, wherever we go, whatever the shape of our faces and dreams."

Title: "What Is This Thing Called Family?" Location: Conclusion / Final paragraph Significance: Herrick summarizes the role each member of his family plays in his life, which have been implicitly suggested from the three detailed anecdotes (one for each member) in previous paragraphs. He thus emphasizes his central point that family is about "love, struggle, adapting," and what each member does for one another. Herrick concludes with the idea that his family has shaped him for the better and prepared him for his own unconditional love toward his own family, which is also echoed elsewhere in the work (e.g. the previous suggestion that family is also about being a "good person").

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "Yes, I think about my birth parents from time to time, although I have not met them. But several years ago I returned to Seoul, the capital city where I was born. It felt like going home - no one staring at me because I was the only Asian in a room, eating barbecued squid and kimchi from the street vendor, shopping in Lotte World and the Namdaemun Market, seeing the ancient temples and modern skyscrapers downtown." "But while it felt like home, it really wasn't."

Title: "What Is This Thing Called Family?" Location: Fifteenth to sixteenth paragraphs / Just before the concluding paragraph Significance: By bringing up Korea, which may momentarily feel "like home" to Herrick but ultimately is not, Herrick hammers in his central theme that family is less about what it looks like from the outside and more about what its members will do for each other. He may seem to fit in Korea from looks alone, but because Korea is not where his family is, it cannot be home.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "I walked in the front door, Phil Donahue's inquisitive lisp coming from the television. My mother noticed I had been crying. She bent down like a baseball catcher and took my face into her open hands, wiping my tears with her thumbs. 'Oh, honey what's wrong?' she asked. "I sniffed and wiped my nose with the back of my hand. 'Nothing,' I said. "'Honey, I'm your mom. You can tell me,' she said. "'My face isn't flat, is it?' I asked, feeling the small mound of mu nose on my face, proving it wasn't flat. I was still sniffling."

Title: "What Is This Thing Called Family?" Location: Fifth to eighth paragraphs / After Herrick's sister protects him from his classmates but before his discussion of his father Significance: Herrick's mother's care for her son and her insistence that she is his mother, and the consolation Herrick seeks from her, emphasizes the role of family as a support system that is the essay's central message. The references Herrick makes to Donahue and baseball catchers emphasize his American-ness that is the topic of the preceding paragraph, and which foreshadows his later discussion of Korea not being his ultimate home because that is not where his (American) family is.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "I have come to believe that family goes far beyond a child's eyes looking like her mother and father's, or a child having the same mannerisms as her parents (which we do, in fact, have). It is more than a name or the number of bedrooms in a home. I have come to believe that family is about love and struggle and adapting. That there are many different types of family and that they evolve - 2.5 kids and a white fence, single parent families, those involving incarceration, illness (or a combination of all of these) - family is a wide term with plenty of room for interpretation."

Title: "What Is This Thing Called Family?" Location: Fourteenth paragraph / After the anecdotes are over and before his explicitly stated descriptions of the roles each family member plays in his life Significance: Herrick here gives his own definition of family as being "about love and struggle and adapting," the theme of the entire essay. Herrick's consideration of multiple types of families—from the typical white-fenced American middle-class one to other, more atypical forms—emphasizes his point that a family should not be defined according to what it looks like from the outside but according to what it does for its members and its emotional salience, previously illustrated using his own adoptive family.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "I can still remember the hurt look on her face, the sadness. I can't remember exactly what she said, but it was something about how people are just ignorant and to let it 'roll right off' my back. I felt better that day, and time after time throughout my life as I encountered difficult times I would often repeat her mantra in my head. She gave me something to use. Years later, as I was defining the term idiot in high school, acting out some of my anger, she would often be the one to spell out the conditions of my grounding. Of course, years later I came to appreciate the support (and discipline) she and my father gave me. Some things just take a while."

Title: "What Is This Thing Called Family?" Location: Ninth paragraph / Immediately before Herrick's discussion of his mother Significance: This anecdote shows Herrick's later explicit characterization of his mother as "a support system." He also stresses how her advice and her discipline have remained with him even today, which foreshadows Herrick's suggestion that he has been shaped by his family and his concluding hope that the good sides of his family have "rubbed off on" him and that he can do the same for his own family.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "My father is a quiet man. I think of him as the model for giving of yourself as much as you can. Once, when I was fifteen or sixteen, at the height of my selfish teen years, he asked me I wanted to help him volunteer serving hot dogs at the local Peach Fair. "'Do I get paid?' I asked, clearly not hearing the word volunteer. 'No,' he said. He left, no doubt wondering what kind of person I was becoming. "He is also the kindest, most soft-spoken, modest person I know. I have never heard him scream, not even when my sister and I were raising all kinds of hell as teenagers. Sure, he gets mad, but his calm demeanor is a trait I have always admired (and probably never successfully emulated)."

Title: "What Is This Thing Called Family?" Location: Tenth to twelfth paragraphs / Following Herrick's mother consoling him Significance: This anecdote shows (as opposed to tells) Herrick's characterization of his father as a calm, quiet, altruistic, moral man, foreshadowing the "role model" that he explicitly states his father to be towards the conclusion.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "Being a Korean adoptee has been wonderful but undoubtedly challenging. Anger, kindness, and forgiveness have all been a part of my life. To varying degrees I have to believe they are a part of all families. To say the least, being separated from one's birth mother is not easy to come to terms with, and it is complicated further by being in an interracial family. But that is what we are - a family."

Title: "What Is This Thing Called Family?" Location: Thirteenth paragraph / After the anecdote about volunteer work Significance: Having completed his main anecdotes, Herrick emphasizes his key theme, "family," by pointing out (especially in the last sentence) that though his family may be unusual, it is a family nonetheless. This is a theme that will be touched on later in the essay, when Herrick refutes the notion that only a middle-class household with 2.5 children constitute a "proper family."

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "As a Korean adoptee raised by Caucasian parents, I have a unique perspective on the notion of family. It is not defined by physical similarity. I look nothing like them. I am Asian and they are Caucasian, as is my sister (adopted as well, from Alameda). But the subtle similar-ties one acquires through family are inevitable - the sighs, the way one lifts their eyebrows in curiosity or disdain. We joke about having each other's traits, but they are habits or quirks, not the same shape of nose or chin."

Title: "What Is this Thing Called Family?" Location: First paragraph / Introduction Significance: Herrick introduces the central theme of his essay (his own perspective on family) and the personal background for this theme (a Korean adoptee raised by white parents), setting the stage for the detailed anecdotes of the rest of the essay.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "My sister and I were raised in California's East Bay Area and later in the Central Valley. In the 1970s, the towns weren't as diverse as they are now. But we had great childhoods. We had a sibling rivalry for the ages, but deep down there was a whole lot of love. I remember her defending me when racial slurs would come my way. "'He's Korean,' Holly would say, when the other kids would tell me 'Go back to were you came from, Chinaman.' She would intervene and change the subject when I was asked irritating questions like 'What are you' and 'How can she be your sister?' I think of my sister like a defender, a protector. I also now realize that as much as she was defending me, she was defending herself and her right as an adoptee to have a brother who looked like me."

Title: "What Is this Thing Called Family?" Location: Second and third paragraphs / Shortly after the introduction / Before Herrick's mother consoles him Significance: This anecdote characterizes Herrick's sister as a "protector" (something Herrick makes explicit in the conclusion) and illustrates the pervading theme of family as a support system. Herrick's realization that his sister was also defending herself suggests that family, especially his adoptive one, is a mutually interdependent thing. By defending a family member, one defends their own position in the family and their own notion of belonging (e.g. by defending a brother, a sister stresses her position as sister; by defending a son, a mother stresses her own position as mother). This also enhances Herrick's description of family as a support system.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "It seemed to me that another picture of the Earth, this one taken from a hundred thousand times farther away, might help in the continuing process of revealing to ourselves our true circumstance and condition. It had been well understood by the scientists and philosophers of classical antiquity that the Earth was a mere point in a vast encompassing Cosmos, but no one had ever seen it as such. Here was our first chance (and perhaps also our last for decades to come)."

Title: "You Are Here" Location: Eighth paragraph / After the introduction, before the description of how the Voyager photos were taken at the last minute Significance: Sagan reaffirms the story of the expansion of human perspective that the previous paragraphs discuss, while steering the topic back to the Voyager picture discussed in the introduction. There is an allusion to the Classical writers of the epigraph that adds unity to the piece, while the parenthetical statement at the end adds suspense.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "So here they are—a mosaic of squares laid down on top of the planets and a background smattering of more distant stars. We were able to photograph not only the Earth, but also five other of the Sun's nine known planets. Mercury, the innermost, was lost in the glare of the Sun, and Mars and Pluto were too small, too dimly lit, and/or too far away. Uranus and Neptune are so dim that to record their presence required long exposures; accordingly, their images were smeared because of spacecraft motion. This is how the planets would look to an alien spaceship approaching the Solar System after a long interstellar voyage. "From this distance the planets seem only points of light, smeared or unsmeared—even through the high-resolution telescope aboard Voyager. They are like the planets seen with the naked eye from the surface of the Earth—luminous dots, brighter than most of the stars. Over a period of months the Earth, like the other planets, would seem to move among the stars. You cannot tell merely by looking at one of these dots what it's like, what's on it, what its past has been, and whether, in this particular epoch, anyone lives there."

Title: "You Are Here" Location: Eleventh and twelfth paragraphs / After Sagan's description of the Voyager program, before his conclusions on what the image means Significance: By emphasizing how small and insignificant all the planets of the Solar System are from this distance ("points of light, smeared or unsmeared") and how Earth is virtually indistinguishable from its fellow planets, Sagan emphasizes his motif that the Earth is tiny on the cosmic scale (which for Sagan, though not yet stated, means that we should all care more for each other and this tiny planet).

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "The entire Earth is but a point, and the place of our own habitation but a minute corner of it. —MARCUS AURELIUS, ROMAN EMPEROR, MEDITATIONS, BOOK 4 (CA. 170) "As the astronomers unanimously teach, the circuit of the whole earth, which to us seems endless, compared with the greatness of the universe has the likeness of a mere tiny point. —AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS (CA. 330-395), THE LAST MAJOR ROMAN HISTORIAN, IN THE CHRONICLE OF EVENTS"

Title: "You Are Here" Location: Epigraph Significance: The epigraph foreshadows the central motif of the chapter (the insignificance of Earth on the cosmic scale) and, by quoting from Classical authors, suggests that this is a topic of existential interest for us, one that has intrigued humanity for millennia. It is echoed in the later reference to "the scientists and philosophers of classical antiquity."

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "We can explain the wan blueness of this little world because we know it well. Whether an alien scientist newly arrived at the outskirts of our solar system could reliably deduce oceans and clouds and a thickish atmosphere is less certain. Neptune, for instance, is blue, but chiefly for different reasons. From this distant vantage point, the Earth might not seem of any particular interest."

Title: "You Are Here" Location: Fifteenth paragraph / After Sagan's description of the Voyager program, before his conclusions on what the image means Significance: Refuting the idea that the Earth's blueness on the Voyager image alone could suggest that the Earth is special, Sagan emphasizes once more our triviality on the cosmic scale.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "Mariners had painstakingly mapped the coastlines of the continents. Geographers had translated these findings into charts and globes. Photographs of tiny patches of the Earth had been obtained first by balloons and aircraft, then by rockets in brief ballistic flight, and at last by orbiting spacecraft—giving a perspective like the one you achieve by positioning your eyeball about an inch above a large globe. While almost everyone is taught that the Earth is a sphere with all of us somehow glued to it by gravity, the reality of our circumstance did not really begin to sink in until the famous frame-filling Apollo photograph of the whole Earth—the one taken by the Apollo 17 astronauts on the last journey of humans to the Moon."

Title: "You Are Here" Location: Fifth paragraph / After the introduction, before the description of how the Voyager photos were taken at the last minute Significance: By detailing the history of how the human perspective on the Earth has expanded with science, Sagan foreshadows his conclusion that the picture taken from Voyager could bring an even greater shift in our perspective of "the reality of our circumstance."

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "And why that cerulean color? The blue comes partly from the sea, partly from the sky. While water in a glass is transparent, it absorbs slightly more red light than blue. If you have tens of meters of the stuff or more, the red light is absorbed out and what gets reflected back to space is mainly blue. In the same way, a short line of sight through air seems perfectly transparent. Nevertheless—something Leonardo da Vinci excelled at portraying—the more distant the object, the bluer it seems. Why? Because the air scatters blue light around much better than it does red. So the bluish cast of this dot comes from its thick but transparent atmosphere and its deep oceans of liquid water. And the white? The Earth on an average day is about half covered with white water clouds."

Title: "You Are Here" Location: Fourteenth paragraph / After Sagan's description of the Voyager program, before his conclusions on what the image means Significance: Sagan discusses the reasons the Earth is blue and white on the Voyager image; this is part of his explanations of science and astronomy to an audience presumed to not be experts in the field, also seen in e.g. his explanations of the concept of an elliptic plane. In the next paragraph, he will reveal that all these details could likely not be understood from the Voyager image alone, returning to the theme of how inconsequential Earth is on the cosmic scale.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "The Voyagers were guaranteed to work only until the Saturn encounter. I thought it might be a good idea, just after Saturn, to have them take one last glance homeward. From Saturn, I knew, the Earth would appear too small for Voyager to make out any detail. Our planet would be just a point of light, a lonely pixel, hardly distinguishable from the many other points of light Voyager could see, nearby planets and far-off suns. But precisely because of the obscurity of our world thus revealed, such a picture might be worth having."

Title: "You Are Here" Location: Fourth paragraph / Shortly after the introduction Significance: This is the first direct reference to what Earth in a picture from Voyager would be: "a point of light, a lonely pixel." It foreshadows the "pale blue dot" of the real photo (taken from even further away!). And by suggesting that "such a picture might be worth having," Sagan invites the reader to think about the importance of a picture of us from so far away and foreshadows his own conclusions at the end of the chapter.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known."

Title: "You Are Here" Location: Last paragraph / In the conclusion Significance: Sagan's concluding paragraph and sentence explicitly states his central message that has been only implicitly made in the preceding few paragraphs, thus providing an effective ending to the chapter as a whole.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "Many in NASA's Voyager Project were supportive. But from the outer Solar System the Earth lies very near the Sun, like a moth enthralled around a flame. Did we want to aim the camera so close to the Sun as to risk burning out the spacecraft's vidicon system? Wouldn't it be better to delay until all the scientific images—from Uranus and Neptune, if the spacecraft lasted that long—were taken? "And so we waited, and a good thing too—from 1981 at Saturn, to 1986 at Uranus, to 1989, when both spacecraft had passed the orbits of Neptune and Pluto. At last the time came. But there were a few instrumental calibrations that needed to be done first, and we waited a little longer. Although the spacecraft were in the right spots, the instruments were still working beautifully, and there were no other pictures to take, a few project personnel opposed it. It wasn't science, they said. Then we discovered that the technicians who devise and transmit the radio commands to Voyager were, in a cash-strapped NASA, to be laid off immediately or transferred to other jobs. If the picture were to be taken, it had to be done right then. At the last minute—actually, in the midst of the Voyager 2 encounter with Neptune—the then NASA Administrator, Rear Admiral Richard Truly, stepped in and made sure that these images were obtained. The space scientists Candy Hansen of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Carolyn Porco of the University of Arizona designed the command sequence and calculated the camera exposure times."

Title: "You Are Here" Location: Ninth and tenth paragraphs / After Sagan's description of the Apollo image, before his description of the contents of the Voyager image Significance: The lengthy anecdotes and details Sagan offers on the picture almost not being taken raises suspense and makes the story more dramatic. It also emphasizes the value of the pictures and his conclusion that we should put more thought into what the precious Voyager images imply on the human condition.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "Obediently, it turned its cameras back toward the now-distant planets. Slewing its scan platform from one spot in the sky to another, it snapped 60 pictures and stored them in digital form on its tape recorder. Then, slowly, in March, April, and May, it radioed the data back to Earth. Each image was composed of 640,000 individual picture elements ("pixels"), like the dots in a newspaper wire-photo or a pointillist painting. The spacecraft was 3.7 billion miles away from Earth, so far away that it took each pixel 5½ hours, traveling at the speed of light, to reach us. The pictures might have been returned earlier, but the big radio telescopes in California, Spain, and Australia that receive these whispers from the edge of the Solar System had responsibilities to other ships that ply the sea of space—among them, Magellan, bound for Venus, and Galileo on its tortuous passage to Jupiter."

Title: "You Are Here" Location: Second paragraph/In the introduction Significance: This introductory paragraph describes the central episode of the chapter: the moment the Voyager spacecraft took and transmitted the picture. By beginning with this climax, the reader's interest is hooked, while the essay is more streamlined and focused on the topic. Sagan also emphasizes the level of technological ingenuity that allowed the picture to be taken to further gain the reader's interest, and also foreshadowing the mention below of how the Voyager program represents the "triumphs of human engineering."

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand."

Title: "You Are Here" Location: Second-to-last paragraph / In the conclusion Significance: Sagan emphasizes the fact that Earth ("a mote of dust") is the only planet humans have to emphasize a central motif in the chapter: the loneliness of our species on the cosmic stage. For Sagan, this means that humans should treat one another kindly; there is no one else who can do so for us, no one else to save us from ourselves.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds."

Title: "You Are Here" Location: Seventeenth paragraph / Following Sagan's description of the content of the Voyager picture Significance: Sagan opposes the heights of human cruelties and hatreds with the tininess of Earth on the cosmic scale to demonstrate his central message: that we should all reflect on the perspective the Voyager image sheds on our smallness to realize that our greed and anger are nothing more than "human conceits," and that we should treat one another more kindly.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "But for us, it's different. Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there—on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam."

Title: "You Are Here" Location: Sixteenth paragraph / Following Sagan's description of the content of the Voyager picture Significance: Sagan's list of humans and human creations is juxtaposed with the triviality of Earth ("a mote of dust"). By pointing out how all of the human experience has been tied to this inconsequential planet, Sagan reinforces his message that we should treat the planet kindly. And by using quotation marks on "superstar" and "supreme leader," Sagan mocks the "human conceits" that have led humans to harm each other, and which will be further elaborated on in the next paragraph. This supports his other message, that we should treat each other kindly as well.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "It has become a kind of icon of our age. There's Antarctica at what Americans and Europeans so readily regard as the bottom, and then all of Africa stretching up above it: You can see Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Kenya, where the earliest humans lived. At top right are Saudi Arabia and what Europeans call the Near East. Just barely peeking out at the top is the Mediterranean Sea, around which so much of our global civilization emerged. You can make out the blue of the ocean, the yellow-red of the Sahara and the Arabian desert, the brown-green of forest and grassland. "And yet there is no sign of humans in this picture, not our reworking of the Earth's surface, not our machines, not ourselves: We are too small and our statecraft is too feeble to be seen by a spacecraft between the Earth and the Moon. From this vantage point, our obsession with nationalism is nowhere in evidence. The Apollo pictures of the whole Earth conveyed to multitudes something well known to astronomers: On the scale of worlds—to say nothing of stars or galaxies—humans are inconsequential, a thin film of life on an obscure and solitary lump of rock and metal."

Title: "You Are Here" Location: Sixth and seventh paragraphs / After the introduction, before the description of how the Voyager photos were taken at the last minute Significance: The first paragraph discusses the contents of the Apollo image, and the second is Sagan's interpretation of it. Sagan's interpretation of the Apollo image foreshadows his later interpretation of the Voyager image: how "inconsequential" humanity is in the cosmic scheme of things, and how pointless "our obsession with nationalism" is. This strong conclusions Sagan draws from the Apollo image thus foreshadows Sagan's theme and suggests to the reader that the Voyager image of Earth, taken from even further away and where our planet is even less consequential, may lead to even more drastic conclusions.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "Voyager 1 was so high above the ecliptic plane because, in 1981, it had made a close pass by Titan, the giant moon of Saturn. Its sister ship, Voyager 2, was dispatched on a different trajectory, within the ecliptic plane, and so she was able to perform her celebrated explorations of Uranus and Neptune. The two Voyager robots have explored four planets and nearly sixty moons. They are triumphs of human engineering and one of the glories of the American space program. They will be in the history books when much else about our time is forgotten."

Title: "You Are Here" Location: Third paragraph / Immediately after the introduction Significance: This paragraph begins the discussion of the Voyager program itself and sets the scene for the story of the introduction by naming the spacecraft in question ("Voyager"), detailing the program that launched it, and emphasizing its importance on a national and even global scale.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves."

Title: "You Are Here" Location: Third-to-last paragraph / Following Sagan's description of the content of the Voyager picture / In the conclusion Significance: Sagan emphasizes the precariousness and loneliness of Earth on the cosmic stage to support his central message, that we should help and respect each other and the planet because there is no one else who can help or respect us.

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "Because of the reflection of sunlight off the spacecraft, the Earth seems to be sitting in a beam of light, as if there were some special significance to this small world. But it's just an accident of geometry and optics. The Sun emits its radiation equitably in all directions. Had the picture been taken a little earlier or a little later, there would have been no sunbeam highlighting the Earth."

Title: "You Are Here" Location: Thirteenth paragraph / After Sagan's description of the Voyager program, before his conclusions on what the image means Significance: Using the example of the accidental sunbeam, Sagan refutes the notion that there is anything special about the Earth as seen in the Voyager picture alone. This emphasizes Sagan's claim that on the cosmic scale, Earth is inconsequential--there is no special sunbeam just for us (and hence we should respect each other, because what do greed and triumph and all the other "human conceits" matter on a tiny mote of dust?).

Identify the title of the work containing this quote. (Consult the Index in Page 1.) Describe where the quote appears within the work. Explain the significance of this quote within the work. * * * "The spacecraft was a long way from home, beyond the orbit of the outermost planet and high above the ecliptic plane—which is an imaginary flat surface that we can think of as something like a racetrack in which the orbits of the planets are mainly confined. The ship was speeding away from the Sun at 40,000 miles per hour. But in early February of 1990, it was overtaken by an urgent message from Earth."

Title: "You are Here" Location: First paragraph Significance: This introductory paragraph functions as a hook. It introduces both the setting of the chapter's central story (Voyager's taking the picture) and raises suspense by evoking an "urgent message" but not discussing what it may be.

What does Sagan conclude about the meaning of the picture in "You Are Here"?

To Sagan, the smallness and triviality of Earth that the Voyager image shows reminds us how lonely we are on the cosmic scale; there is no one to save us from ourselves. This means that we should treat each other more kindly and cherish the planet that is our only home, since there is no one else to do so for us, much as sailors on a ship stranded in a vast ocean would cooperate and respect each other in order to survive.