Page 6 - ArgumentativeGraphicOrganizer-WRITING II

Questions for Study and Discussion

1. What does Gregory mean by “shame”?

According to Gregory “shame” means not to have a daddy to encourage him to do something, not to have
food or clothes to wear. Also, his teacher didn’t consider him in class, they thought that he is stupid.

2. How do the first three paragraphs of the essay help to establish a context for the narrative that follows?

In the first paragraph the writer explains the life of the child, it is an introduction. The first paragraph explains

about his classmate, and how difficult is his life

Why do you think Gregory narrates this episode in the first-person point of view? What would be
gained or lost if he instead wrote it in the third-person point of view?

- I think that Gregory narrates this episode in the first-person point of view because he is talking about his

experiences when he was a child. He wants to share these experiences with the readers.
- I think that essays written in the first-person point of view are more emotional, and you can feel interested in
experiences. Maybe, Gregory would have lost people’s attention if he wrote it in the third-person point of

view

3. Specific details can enhance the reader’s understanding and appreciation of a narrative. Gregory’s
description of Helene Tucker’s manners or the plaid of his mackinaw, for example, makes his account

vivid and interesting. Cite several other specific details he gives and consider how the narrative would
be different without them.

- “I was in love with a little girl named Helene Tucker, a light-complexioned little girl with pigtails and nice
manners”

- “I loved her for her goodness, her cleanness, her popularity”

These are some details that Gregory explains about Helene Tucker. I think that if Gregory didn’t explain
those details, readers wouldn’t be focus on the texts or they would think in other things Probably, readers

would ask some question, for example, Why Helene is special for this boy?

5. Consider the diction of this essay. What effect does Gregory’s repetition of the word shame have on
you? Why do you think Gregory uses simple vocabulary to narrate this particular experience?

Gregory repeated “shame” on his essays because he wanted to emphasize what shame is. Moreover, the

author wanted to number the terrible things that he lived. In my opinion it wasn’t simple vocabulary because
I have some problems with the meaning of some words and I had to look up those words in the dictionary.