1. We Are Each Other’s Business Web Essay Introducing the Selection Informational Text Focus: Evaluating Primary and Secondary Sources Writing Skills Focus: Preparing for Timed Writing Feature Menu

2. We Are Each Other’s Business Web Essay How do people from different cultures learn to live together?

3. We Are Each Other’s Business Introducing the Selection What does it mean to be “American”? Does everyone have to be like everyone else? Do you have to give up your own heritage and culture—even your own faith—to belong?

4. We Are Each Other’s Business Introducing the Selection [End of Section] And who is it that we’re all supposed to be like? Who is that model American?

5. When you evaluate a source, you analyze different aspects of the text and then judge whether the source accomplished its goals. We Are Each Other’s Business Informational Text Focus: Evaluating Primary and Secondary Sources To analyze a text, focus on what the text says and how the ideas are expressed.

6. Determine the writer’s purpose. Texts may have several purposes, but one is usually central. Is the writer  giving information?  expressing feelings?  describing an event or person?  entertaining you?  persuading you to do or believe something? We Are Each Other’s Business Informational Text Focus: Evaluating Primary and Secondary Sources

7. Find the writer’s main idea, or message, and see how it is supported. Look at the text’s structure—its order and format.  Be sure to look at special features, such as subheads and illustrations.  Do the structure and features relay the essential information effectively? We Are Each Other’s Business Informational Text Focus: Evaluating Primary and Secondary Sources

8. Determine the writer’s tone, or attitude.  Is the text totally objective— including only facts?  Or is the text subjective— expressing the writer’s thoughts, feelings, and opinions? We Are Each Other’s Business Informational Text Focus: Evaluating Primary and Secondary Sources

9. Into Action: Use a chart to help you determine the author’s purpose in this essay. Detail Type Facts Direct statements by author Quotations/Examples Author’s Purpose: [End of Section] “We are each other’s magnitude and bond” We Are Each Other’s Business Informational Text Focus: Evaluating Primary and Secondary Sources “We Are Each Other’s Business”

10. What point does he make about the Norman Rockwell illustration? Preparing for Timed Writing We Are Each Other’s Business Writing Skills Focus As you read the essay, note the ways in which Patel illustrates his ideas with references to art and literature. [End of Section] How does he use the Gwendolyn Brooks poem to support his ideas?

11. Vocabulary

12. We Are Each Other’s Business Vocabulary piety n.: religious devotion. complicity n.: being an accomplice or partner in wrongdoing. bigotry n.: intolerance or prejudice.

13. We Are Each Other’s Business Vocabulary The depth of the pilgrims’ piety showed clearly in the expressions on their weary faces; they had sacrificed much to reach this holy shrine. The sentence below may help you understand how the word piety is used in “We Are Each Other’s Business.” In what situations might a person’s piety become apparent?

14. Some people prefer to pray and perform other religious observances in private... We Are Each Other’s Business Vocabulary while others demonstrate or manifest their piety wherever they are.

15. We Are Each Other’s Business Vocabulary The abbot did not doubt the young monk’s piety, but he wondered if the young man was really ready to join the monastery. Was the abbot worried about the strength of the young man’s faith?

16. We Are Each Other’s Business Vocabulary When she asked me whether I liked going to school with “people like that,” I was shocked into silence by her bigotry. Read the sentence below to help you understand how the word bigotry is used. In addition to racial prejudice and religious intolerance, what other forms of bigotry can you think of?

17. Some people express their prejudices actively—by using offensive terms or making offensive “jokes” We Are Each Other’s Business Vocabulary —while others keep their bigotry well hidden.

18. We Are Each Other’s Business Vocabulary Cheryl thought it was ironic that George was always accusing everyone else of bigotry. Why might Cheryl think George’s accusations were ironic?

19. We Are Each Other’s Business Vocabulary The jury recognized her complicity in the crime, but gave her a lighter sentence because she did not injure anyone. How is the word complicity used below? Can complicity involve not doing something—as well as doing something?

20. Megan did not think the prank was funny at all. Her brother’s involvement in planning it bothered her. We Are Each Other’s Business Vocabulary As far as she was concerned, any complicity—any participation in the prank— made him just as guilty as the others.

21. We Are Each Other’s Business Vocabulary The evidence clearly showed Seth’s complicity in the incident of vandalism. Was Seth involved or not involved in the crime? [End of Section]

22. The End

23. QuickWrite

24. We Are Each Other’s Business QuickWrite Think about the people you know in school or in your neighborhood who have diverse backgrounds and beliefs. Write a few sentences explaining how cultural differences can enrich a community. [End of Section]

25. Build Background

26. We Are Each Other’s Business Web Essay Pluralism has been defined as “a condition in which ethnic or other minority groups are able to maintain their identities in a society.” People retain their individual, cultural, or religious identities and still consider themselves part of the larger society—without being in conflict with it.

27. This Web essay comes from a media project called This I Believe, in which National Public Radio (NPR) airs three-minute essays by individuals expressing their core values and beliefs. NPR also posts the essays on its Web site. Build Background We Are Each Other’s Business Web Essay [End of Section]

28. Read with a Purpose

29. We Are Each Other’s Business Web Essay Does pluralism mean we tolerate one another’s differences or celebrate them? Read to discover one person’s answer to that question. [End of Section]