Introductions!
Please read each of the following introductions then answer the following questions.
If you do much driving on our nation’s highways, you’ve probably noticed that, more and more often,
bullets are coming through your windshield. This is a common sign of Road Rage, which the opinionmakers in the news media have decided is a serious problem, currently ranking just behind global
warming and several points ahead of Asia.
from Road Warrior, by Dave Barry
1. What kind of tone does Barry take in this essay?
2. What do you expect the rest of the essay to be about?
3. What is Barry’s topic/goal in this essay?
Some years ago, a friend and I comanaged a used and rare book shop in Ann Arbor, Michigan. We were
often asked to appraise and purchase libraries--by retiring academics, widows, and disgruntled graduate
students. One day we took a call from a professor of English at one of the community colleges outside
Detroit. When he answered the buzzer I did a double take--he looked to be only a year or two older than
we were. “I’m selling everything,” he said, leading the way through a large apartment. As he opened the
door of his study I felt a nudge from my partner. The room was wall-to-wall books and as neat as a
chapel.
from Into the Electronic Millennium, by Sven Birkerts
1. What do you think this essay might be about, based on this introduction?
2. Does the anecdote here make you want to read more? Why or why not?
3. Check out the title of the essay. What do you think this essay is about based on the title?
I remember being caught speaking Spanish at recess--that was good for three licks on the knuckles with
a sharp ruler. I remember being sent to the corner of the classroom for “talking back” to the Anglo
teacher when all I was trying to do was tell her how to pronounce my name. “If you want to be American,
speak ‘American.’ If you don’t like it, go back to Mexico where you belong.”
from How to Tame a Wild Tongue, by Gloria Anzaldúa
1. What point of view is this written from? Does it make you want to read more?
2. Does this anecdote grab your attention?
3. What do you think this essay will be about?