On page 359, Angelou says that when Momma sees the girls approaching, she sags from the waist down but from the top seems to be pulling for the top of an oak tree. Exactly what does this image make you see? What do you think Momma is feeling?

We all remember people we've admired-people who were wise, funny, or especially kind. We also remember people who were less than perfect-people who were uneasy, demanding, even unkind. All of these memories-good and bad-stay with us and become part of who we are. Here, Maya Angelou reflects on an incident from her childhood, when she witnessed her beloved grandmother's encounter with some meanspirited children. Why has this experience stayed with her?

How would you state Walker's main idea? How does the story she tells support that main idea?

Identify the time and setting of Walker's speech. What is the significance of the location?

How did Walker first learn about Martin Luther King, Jr.? How did this affect her life?

Write down some of your own thoughts about this boy's statement. Think about the importance of good looks in the media, in your school, and in your own reactions to people.

Finding the Main Idea: Supported with a Story Soto seems to state his main idea-the message that he wants to communicate-in his very first sentence. So what's next? To develop his main idea, he tells us a story. Note how Soto uses his true story to help you share his feelings. Do the boys' exaggerated feelings about their looks seem true to life to you? When you finish the essay, go back and reread the first sentence. Do you think it really states the essay's main idea?

Soto uses exaggeration to describe himself and his friend Scott. Find two exaggerated statements in the text. What do they tell you about how the boys feel about themselves?

Pull out any of the notes you've taken for an autobiographical incident (for the Writer's Notebook assignments). Now list at least four strong words or phrases you could use to describe a person, a place, or an episode in any of those incidents.

Folk ballads belong to the oral tradition; the songs are passed on through performance, from one singer to another. Literal|'y ballads, like the one Randall has written, are composed by known individuals in imitation of folk ballads. Discuss Randall's choice of the ballad as the form in which to relate the events of September 15, 1963. Which historical facts did he include? Which did he omit? Did he invent anything?

Expand these empty sentences by adding prepositional phrases that answer the questions in brackets. Underline the prepositional phrases in your sentences. Be sure to compare your expanded versions in class.

Some cheered. [Which ones and how?]

Narrow your focus to a single incident that happened in a short time-maybe just a few minutes or several hours or a day. Look through your Writer's Notebook for ideas. Or, brainstorm some lists-"Six Memories of Food," "Three Horrible Vacations," "Four School Experiences," "Three Things I Wish I Could Do Again."' Write a sentence or two about several incidents and present them to your writing group. Ask for feedback: Which one would they like to read about? Ask yourself which incident gives you most to write about.

Look at the notes you made as you read "Ballad of Birmingham" and the selection from Parting the Waters. Compare your questions with those of your classmates. See if you can reach a consensus about the questions you'd like to discuss.

Answer these question about the pages above.

What special features do you find in the table of contents?