Exploring Cultural Identity through Language — Quiz
Question 7 • English Language Arts 11
Read the excerpts from “Take the Tortillas Out of Your Poetry” and “Speaking Arabic.” My friend had concluded that if he took his language and culture out of his poetry, he stood a better chance of receiving a fellowship. He took out his native language, the poetic patois of our reality, the rich mixture of Spanish, English, pachuco and street talk which we know so well. In other words, he took the tortillas out of his poetry, which is to say he took the soul out of his poetry. At a neighborhood fair in Texas, somewhere between the German Oom-pah Sausage Stand and the Mexican Gorditas booth, I overheard a young man say to his friend, “I wish I had a heritage. Sometimes I feel—so lonely for one.” And the tall American trees were dangling their thick branches right down over his head. Which best states how the structures of the excerpts are similar?
Answer
A
Each documents career credentials to appeal to the reader’s ethics.
B
Each relates an anecdote to appeal to the reader’s emotions.
C
Each presents factual evidence to appeal to the reader’s logic.
D
Each discusses a friend to appeal to the reader’s sense of community.
Explanation
Both excerpts tell brief personal stories: one describes a friend removing his language and culture from his poetry, and the other recounts overhearing a young man say he felt lonely for a heritage. These anecdotes invite readers to feel the loss of cultural identity, so both appeal to emotions. The second excerpt does not discuss a friend; the speaker overhears a young man at a fair.
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