Appendix 1A: Teju Cole Pages

Appendix 1B: Discussion Guiding questions

1. What happened in this short excerpt? Try to cover as much as possible in a couple of
minutes.

2. Where did Teju Cole transition to a different story? How did he do these transitions?
(Stories within other stories are called embedded stories. They can also be called frame
narratives or frame stories.)

3. What personal connections did you all have to Teju Coles many stories? Did you notice
any similarities to other stories/movies/books/art you may have seen or heard?

4. If your conversation runs dry, consider this: what parts of Coles story were the most
interesting to read? What images from the story really stuck in your head?
Appendix 2a: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhMSfysVAog

Appendix 5A:

Teacher and Student Sentences

1. He is looking to his left, as he sees his teacher is running away from the building.

2. The girl was rejected by the boy after he was asked by her to the Sadie Hawkins dance.

3. The owl is running and this is a strange thing to happen on a Wednesday.

4. Student Created Sentence example with passive or to be/linking verb instead of active
verb.

5. Student Created Sentence example with passive or to be/linking verb instead of active
verb.

6. Student Created Sentence example with passive or to be/linking verb instead of active
verb.

7. Student Created Sentence example with passive or to be/linking verb instead of active
verb.

8. Student Created Sentence example with passive or to be/linking verb instead of active
verb.

9. Student Created Sentence example with passive or to be/linking verb instead of active
verb.

10. Student Created Sentence example with passive or to be/linking verb instead of active
verb.

Appendix 6A: Google Doc copy of teachers story

When Justin plodded back from the bus stop to his college house, he didnt expect to think of his

father, John. But yet, here he was - about ten years after learning his lessons on leaves, walking,

and listening - thinking about his father and those fall walks on the trails of Goochland county.

He passed the chain link fences on either side of him, branches extending over the path, leaves

crunching underfoot almost as loud as the sound of cars whizzing by. He had his boots on. They
werent meant for the outdoors like the pair his father had bought him a decade ago, but he

couldnt help but practice the heel to toe motion that his father had once taught him.

--

Son, theyre gonna hear you like that. Shh, John whispered. He then paused, crouched

a little lower and slowly turned his head from side to side and listened to the silence of the

surrounding woods. He lifted two fingers into the air and then pointed forward, letting Justin

know it was time to move on ahead. Justin creeped beside his father, staring down at his feet and

making sure that his heel came down first and lifted to his toe. Shuffling was strictly forbidden in

the country and nothing made Justin more embarrassed than seeing his father silently scold him,

finger pressed tightly to his lips and eyes wide and glaring. They were nearing their hunting

stand they had picked from a hat about ten minutes ago. John turned quickly, seeming to burst

forth with new-found excitement. He paused, Justin, come here. He kneeled in the mud and

leaves and looked at his son in his eyes, conveying a strange combination of gravity and levity.

Look, I have been scouting this spot out and were lucky we drew this stand. The dogs are

going to send some deer our way this time. You have to be ready and remember what Ive taught

you, okay? Yes, sir. John cut between two oak trees on the side of the path and lead the way

down the leaf-covered hillside. They both stared into the gully and started towards a downed tree

near the bottom of the hill. John whispered, Theyre going to come right through this little

valley and we have to be ready as soon as we hear the whoopin and hollerin. Then they sat.

Justin kept fidgeting on the rough bark of the branch, partially due to his fathers warning but

mostly because he had yet to kill a deer. He listened intensely, feeling the stillness reverberate

off of the two hills and waiting for the sounds of air horns and Get em up, deer. He could hear

the blood pumping around his ears and feel the cold of his .410s trigger. He was ready to pull
the lever down with his thumb as soon as a deer came bounding down the valley and into range.

It was faint at first, chalking it up to just another squirrel. But then a few sounds became many

and the rustling of leaves was too much to ignore. Jay, Jay, here they come. Get ready, buddy.

John drew first, bringing his .12 gauge to his shoulder. Justin followed his lead, placing the gun

firmly into his shoulder. The deer kept coming. Closer, even closer. Were those antlers? Justin

looked down the barrel of his shotgun, focusing on the gold bead at the end, pointing it at the

shining fur bounding down the valley. 20 yards. 15 yards. 10 yards. Justin, get the big one.

Yes sir. They aimed, took a deep breath in unison. Justin placed the gold bead on the shoulder

blade, always the shoulder blade. And fired. He was shaking; the buck dropped immediately. A

perfect shot. Finally.

Appendix 6b:

Feedback Steps

Step 1: Go through your partners piece and highlight in blue images that are especially

vivid. Highlight in blue sentences that use action-packed verbs.

Step 2: Underline reflection in the story and put expressive writing in italics.

Step 3: Use the comment feature to comment on sentences that could use a better image, or

where the author is telling you something when youd rather be shown with imagery.

Step 4: Use the comment feature to comment on sentences that could use more active verbs.

Step 5: Comment on the last word of the piece leave a few sentences that 1) point out

strengths of their story that you enjoyed as a reader and 2) comment on the overall clarity
of the piece are there any sentences or parts of the story that dont make sense? Is there

an image or a sentence that was hard to get through and could use some reworking?

Step 6: Share the file with your partner