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Week Three Discussion Part 2

Week Three Discussion Part 2

Q Reading Metaphorically: Tan, Rodriguez, and Miller Before you start this discussion assignment, please read "Lecture: Narrative and Metaphorical Thinking." Use the metaphorical thinking process described in the lecture to complete this assignment. In the lecture, there are also samples of the sort of metaphorical interpretation you'll be doing in this discussion assignment. *Please post to this discussion only after you've read the entirety of the texts. You'll need to have read the texts in order to meaningfully participate in the discussion. In this discussion activity, you will practice and develop your metaphorical thinking skills by engaging with the narratives of Miller, Tan, and/or Rodriguez. Here is an example of what the first part of your post might look like: • “Still, she said, the hospital did not apologize when they said they had lost the CAT scan and she had come for nothing […] She said they would not give her any more information […] And when the doctor finally called her daughter, me, who spoke perfect English-–lo and behold—we had assurances the CAT scan would be found […] and apologies for any suffering my mother had gone through for a most regrettable mistake.” (Tan 32). • If English-speaking society represents community, and Tan’s mother represents an individual excluded from community, then perhaps this passage represents how, when individuals are excluded from their community, they lack access to the basic supportive resources they need from their community, like health care. Moreover, access to those resources is a privilege reserved for those who are perceived as being part of the community. • FOCUS QUESTION: What are the consequences of an individual being excluded from a community? Your Task *Note: It's fine if there are similarities between your Reading Response and this discussion post. STEP ONE: Make your first post (15 points, 100-150 words). • Identify a scene/short passage from “Mother Tongue” OR "Aria" OR “The Hungry Got Food" to read metaphorically. (Copy the passage in your response if it's relatively short; summarize it if it's long.) • Use metaphorical thinking to uncover its meaning. What does this specific thing in the narrative say in general about community, authority, the individual, conformity, obedience, or a related phenomenon? • What Essay One Focus Question could this passage help to answer? STEP TWO: Respond to someone else's post (10 points, 75-100 words). Identify a post you find interesting and respond to it. You could agree with what the person has to say, and explain why. You could disagree and explain. Or, you could pick up where they leave off, adding to what they have to say. Please don't repeat what you've written in your initial post; generate new ideas in response to someone else's post. *Optional follow-up activity* Return to the section in your notes titled “Essay Notes/Synthesis Record,” or create this section. This is where you chose one Essay One Download Essay One Focus Question to free write in response to. Return what you've written, then add responses to the prompts below. Keep in mind that you're trying to build ideas for the upcoming essay by keeping track of how the writers are influencing your position. • How did these texts and our discussion influence your position? • Are there ideas in these texts you could use to support your position? • Are there ideas in these texts that contradict your position?

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The passage I have chosen: You should know that my mother’s expressive command of English belies how much she actually understands. She reads the Forbes report, listens to Wall Street Week, converses daily with her stockbroker, reads all of Shirley MacLaine’s books with ease—all kinds of things I can’t begin to understand. Yet some of my friends tell me they understand fifty percent of what my mother says. Some say they understand eighty to ninety percent. Some say they understand none of it, as if she were speaking pure Chinese.