Read the excerpt from "mother tongue." yet some of my friends tell me they understand 50 percent of what my mother says. some say they understand 80 to 90 percent. some say they understand none of it, as if she were speaking pure chinese. but to me, my mother’s english is perfectly clear, perfectly natural. it’s my mother tongue. her language, as i hear it, is vivid, direct, full of observation and imagery. that was the language that shape the way i saw things, expressed things, made sense of the world. how does tan build a central idea of her story in the excerpt?

3. what is the purpose of a lead sentence or paragraph? to display your most convincing reasons and arguments to you revise the overall structure of your work to interest readers and introduce your writing style to add details and elaborate on your ideas

13 points : ) which two aspects of scrooge's character does this excerpt from a christmas carol by charles dickens reveal? "i wish to be left alone," said scrooge. "since you ask me what i wish, gentlemen, that is my answer. i don’t make merry myself at christmas and i can't afford to make idle people merry. i to support the establishments i have mentioned—they cost enough; and those who are badly off must go there." "many can’t go there; and many would rather die." "if they would rather die," said scrooge, "they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population. besides—excuse me—i don't know that." "but you might know it," observed the gentleman. his stingy attitude and conduct his distrust of government institutions his indifference to others' suffering his support for the community

With crack on crack of thunder, zeus let fly a bolt against the ship, a direct hit, so that she bucked, in reeking fumes of sulphur, and all the men were flung into the sea. they came up 'round the wreck, bobbing a while like petrels on the waves. no more seafaring homeward for these, no sweet day of return; the god had turned his face from them. –the odyssey, homer read the passage. then, identify the theme that is supported by the passage. most ships cannot survive a terrible thunderstorm. the ocean is an angry beast that will tame any who try to control it. the gods have the power to control human destiny. men are willing to die to eat the delicious cattle of the gods.