Letter from New Orleans: Leaving Desire
Comparing
Accounts
The Story of an Eyewitness
Video link at thinkcentral.com Magazine Article by Jack London
Letter from New Orleans: Leaving Desire
Magazine Article by Jon Lee Anderson
VIDEO TRAILER
KEYWORD: HML8-410
What is the role of a
WITNESS?
RI 1 Cite textual evidence to support inferences drawn from the text. RI 6 Determine an author’s purpose in a text.
When events such as natural disasters, crimes, and wars occur, it’s important that a witness describe what happened so that others can learn from these events. Witnesses have played an important role in reporting everything from local sports to the events in your history textbook. The authors of the accounts you are about to read each witnessed natural disasters. Their writing allowed people from around the world to share in their experiences.
ROLE-PLAY Picture the tornadoes, floods, and snow storms you have seen in the news. Imagine that one of these disasters has just struck your community. With a partner, role-play an evening news broadcast on the disaster. Decide who will be the news reporter and who will be the eyewitness. Then conduct an interview. Remember that your audience will want to know what the disaster looked, sounded, and felt like, as well as how people got hurt or stayed safe.
410
410-411_NA_L08PE-u03s05-brSto.indd 410
12/28/10 1:43:39 PM
Meet the Authors text analysis: author’s purpose
Writers usually write for one or more of these purposes: to express thoughts or feelings, to inform or explain, to persuade, or to entertain. The authors of the following articles have the same basic purpose for writing: to inform readers about a disaster. However, each has a different, more specific purpose, too. London wants to show how widespread the devastation is.
Anderson wants to create empathy for the victims. As you read their accounts, notice how the authors present and develop the ideas in the articles to achieve their purposes.
reading strategy: set a purpose for reading
When
Accounts
The Story of an Eyewitness
Video link at thinkcentral.com Magazine Article by Jack London
Letter from New Orleans: Leaving Desire
Magazine Article by Jon Lee Anderson
VIDEO TRAILER
KEYWORD: HML8-410
What is the role of a
WITNESS?
RI 1 Cite textual evidence to support inferences drawn from the text. RI 6 Determine an author’s purpose in a text.
When events such as natural disasters, crimes, and wars occur, it’s important that a witness describe what happened so that others can learn from these events. Witnesses have played an important role in reporting everything from local sports to the events in your history textbook. The authors of the accounts you are about to read each witnessed natural disasters. Their writing allowed people from around the world to share in their experiences.
ROLE-PLAY Picture the tornadoes, floods, and snow storms you have seen in the news. Imagine that one of these disasters has just struck your community. With a partner, role-play an evening news broadcast on the disaster. Decide who will be the news reporter and who will be the eyewitness. Then conduct an interview. Remember that your audience will want to know what the disaster looked, sounded, and felt like, as well as how people got hurt or stayed safe.
410
410-411_NA_L08PE-u03s05-brSto.indd 410
12/28/10 1:43:39 PM
Meet the Authors text analysis: author’s purpose
Writers usually write for one or more of these purposes: to express thoughts or feelings, to inform or explain, to persuade, or to entertain. The authors of the following articles have the same basic purpose for writing: to inform readers about a disaster. However, each has a different, more specific purpose, too. London wants to show how widespread the devastation is.
Anderson wants to create empathy for the victims. As you read their accounts, notice how the authors present and develop the ideas in the articles to achieve their purposes.
reading strategy: set a purpose for reading
When