GET READY

TEACH CRITICAL VOCABULARY

cognizant moratorium retaliate precipitate

complacency manifest mores provocation

Mark the letter of the best answer to each question. Then, explain your
CRITICAL VOCABULARY response to a partner using both words.
Encourage students to read each question carefully and to 1. Which of the following would be used when talking about revenge?
consider context clues before making an answer choice. a. manifest b. retaliate
2. Which of the following would be used when talking about values?
Answers (sentences will vary):
a. mores b. moratorium
1. b; When people have a desire for revenge, it may manifest 3. Which of the following happens when someone incites or inflames a
itself in a desire to retaliate against the person who situation?
wronged them. a. provocation b. complacency
4. Which of the following would be used when talking about being aware?
2. a; I think that society would become a mess if we ever a. cognizant b. precipitate
declared a moratorium on mores.
3. a; Sometimes it takes a powerful provocation to stir people LANGUAGE CONVENTIONS
out of their complacency. Repetition is a technique in which a word or phrase is repeated for emphasis
4. a; The speaker was not cognizant of the effect of his words, or unity. Parallelism is the repetition of grammatical structures to express
ideas that are related or equal in importance. This example is from the letter:
which precipitated a walkout by some members of the
audience. . . . the white moderate, who is more devoted to “order” than to justice;
who prefers a negative peace . . . who constantly says . . .
■■English Learner Support Notice how King uses repetition and parallelism to strengthen his argument.

Use Cognates  Tell students that several of the Critical

Vocabulary words have Spanish cognates: moratorium/
moratoria, precipitate/precipitar, complacency/complacencia, ANNOTATION MODEL NOTICE & NOTE
manifest/manifestar, provocation/provocación. Here is how a student marked the opening of “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”

ALL LEVELS

April 16, 1963 King establishes

LANGUAGE CONVENTIONS My Dear Fellow Clergymen:
audience and his
own credibility—
Emphasize the difference between repetition and While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

he’s one of them.
parallelism: When students see exactly the same word or across your recent statement calling my present activities “unwise
phrase repeated, they are seeing repetition; when they see a and untimely.” Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work He explains why
repeated structure, with some word variations (for example, and ideas. If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my he’s writing.
a string of clauses beginning with if, or a set of statements desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than
such correspondence in the course of the day, and I would have He’s not overly
with the same subject but different future-tense verbs), they no time for constructive work. But since I feel that you are men of sensitive to
are seeing parallelism. “The white moderate” quotation is genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth, criticism.
an example of parallelism because it is the structure that is I want to try to answer your statement in what I hope will be
patient and reasonable terms. He’s polite and
repeated (and only the subject who is repeated).
respectful.

ANNOTATION MODEL 224 Unit 4

Students can review the NOTICE & NOTE Reading Model or
the Reading Skills descriptions if they have questions about
10_LVAESE474599_U4AAS1GR.indd 224 3/17/2018 5:43:09
signposts or other possible annotations. Suggest that they
underline important phrases or circle key words that help
them identify important points. They may want to color-
code their annotations by using a different color highlighter
for each type of annotation. Point out that they may follow
this suggestion or use their own system for marking up the
selections in their write-in texts.

224 Unit 4
 NOTICE & NOTE
TEACH

CHECK YOUR
UNDERSTANDING
Have students answer the questions independently.
Answers:
1. B
2. H
3. D
If they answer any questions incorrectly, have them reread
CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING
the text to confirm their understanding. Then they may
Answer these questions before moving on to the Analyze the Text section on proceed to ANALYZE THE TEXT on page 244.
the following page.

1 King wrote this letter because —

A doing so kept him occupied and helped to pass the time while in jail

B he wanted to respond to criticism from a group of fellow clergymen

C he needed to consider what he had done to wind up in jail

D it helped him to organize his thoughts about his own motivations

2 King mainly supports his ideas using —

F acknowledgment of the many helpful good deeds of the police and

public officials

G emotional arguments centered on his own personal experience with

discrimination

H examples from the Bible and history that illustrate the fight against
injustice
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

J overstatement and exaggeration of the obstacles faced by African

Americans

3 King’s argument makes clear that racial segregation is —

A something that only happens in the South

B solely the responsibility of its victims to change

C a necessary evil that will eventually pass

D an inhumane and immoral practice

Letter from Birmingham Jail 243

ENGLISH LEARNER SUPPORT

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Oral Assessment  Use the following questions to assess students’ 3. What does King want his audience to understand about racial
comprehension and speaking skills. segregation? (He wants to show that racial segregation is wrong and that it
should end.) SUBSTANTIAL/MODERATE
1. What was King’s reason for writing this letter? (He is answering some
clergymen who criticized him.)
2. What kinds of examples does King use to support his ideas? (He names
people from the Bible and from history who fought injustice.)

Letter from Birmingham Jail 243