Multiple Stories in We’ve Got a Job

to state the central ideas and events of a text in your own words

a statement or paragraph that has been copied exactly and used in another source

to apply to a wider group of ideas or experiences

who is telling the story and how it is told

Read the excerpt from We’ve Got a Job by Cynthia Levinson.

Audrey and James didn’t go to the mass meeting either. They were in jail.

Audrey was taken to a large dayroom. She didn’t know anyone, and everyone was older. Dinner was unappetizing. "They gave us grits . . .” she said. "They were horrible—all soupy, no salt.” That night, she slept on a bunk bed "on one mattress, with one sheet,” and no covers.

The first-person quotations in this excerpt help explain

Read the two excerpts from We’ve Got a Job by Cynthia Levinson.

Arnetta didn’t go to the mass meeting that night. She was disappointed she hadn’t been arrested. Somehow, she had gotten separated from the rest of the Peace Ponies, many of whom did get arrested and jailed. Instead, she went home and talked with her parents about the excitement of marching. They repeated their advice: "You’ve done your part. You need to leave this alone.”

*****

Meanwhile, Wash had arrived at Kelly Ingram Park to watch. "[W]e saw those people willingly turn themselves over to the police . . .,” he said. His reaction: "Wow, they must be crazy.” Experience had taught Wash that "the police was vicious murderers.” He knew how much pain they could inflict on young black bodies—as Arnetta discovered the next day.

How did Arnetta’s and Wash’s opinions about being arrested differ?

Read the two excerpts from We’ve Got a Job by Cynthia Levinson.

Audrey talked quietly with her mother and father. As far as she could tell, she was the youngest child there, and she didn’t know anyone else. "My girlfriend . . . was to demonstrate, too, that day,” she said. "I had expected to see her. But she wasn’t there.” Nevertheless, Audrey said, "I didn’t have any fear.”

*****

Meanwhile, Wash had arrived at Kelly Ingram Park to watch. "[W]e saw those people willingly turn themselves over to the police . . .,” he said. His reaction: "Wow, they must be crazy.” Experience had taught Wash that "the police was vicious murderers.” He knew how much pain they could inflict on young black bodies—

Which statement best represents how the march affected Audrey and Wash?

Read the summary of a book.

Theo Rodrigo’s book Dust onto Dust is a historical narrative about the 1930s Dust Bowl. The author describes how a combination of poor farming techniques and a lack of rain created a disaster for farmers in the Great Plains region of the United States. Farmers who lived during that period share their hardships and how they changed their farming techniques in response to this environmental disaster. Rodrigo also includes many pictures and maps to help readers understand his ideas.

Which sentence should be removed from the summary?