What Means Switch
-Gish Jen
Ms. Murillo
English 10
Agenda:
 Quote exercise
 Read “What Means Switch.” Annotate short story 8-10 times.
 Group work: Break into groups of 4 using 1, 2, 3, 4 strategy
 Answer reading comprehension questions
 Graphic organizer of complex characters
 Begin prewriting for essay
 Exit Slip
Gish Jen read from Who’s Irish?
Gish Jen reads aloud
Example of annotation:
Sherman's got the sort of looks I think of as pretty- boy.
Monsignor-black hair (not monk-brown like mine), bouncy.
Crayola eyebrows, one with a round bald spot in the middle of
it, like a golf hole. I don't know how anybody can think of him
as orangeish; why would other kids think he looks orange?
What does that mean? his skin looks white to me, with pink
triangles hanging down the front of his cheeks like flags. Kind
of delicate-looking, but the only truly uncool thing about him is
that his spiral notebook has a picture of a kitty cat on it. Why
would a kid have a notebook with a cat on it? A big white fluffy
one, with a blue ribbon above each perky little ear. I get much
opportunity to view this, as all the poor kid understands about
life in junior high school is that he should follow me
everywhere. It's embarrassing. This reminds me about
someone I know in school who…
Let’s read!
Break Into Groups!!! 1, 2, 3, 4
and answer reading
comprehension questions
Class wide graphic organizer
 Objective:
 Analyze how complex characters develop over the course of
text, interact with other characters and advance the plot and
theme.
Prewriting
 Venn Diagram- Compare/contrast “The Value of
the Hyphenated Identity” with What Means Switch
 Where do the characters stand in the
assimilation process?
 What terminology can be applied to the complex
characters in What Means Switch
Brainstorm ideas for a claim for
your essay…
Writing your thesis statement
Claim + Reason= Thesis statement
Claim is the assertion or main idea that you
are making.
Reason (because) is the evidence or
support you have to back up your claim
Examples of thesis
statements…
 Non-debatable thesis statement:
“Pollution is bad for the environment.”
 So what?
 A better example:
 “At least 25 percent of the federal budget should be spent on
limiting pollution.”
 More detailed, makes a claim, and can be argued.
Write a draft of your thesis
statement
Essay Mapping…5 paragraph
essay
Interactive Map
Write the rough draft!!!
 Remember if you don’t have enough evidence look
back at the article and your text. Later you will
have the opportunity to cite evidence from outside
sources using the MLA citation.