Read the excerpts from “take the tortillas out of your poetry” and “speaking arabic.” my friend had concluded that if he took his language and culture out of his poetry, he stood a better chance of receiving a fellowship. he took out his native language, the poetic patois of our reality, the rich mixture of spanish, english, pachuco and street talk which we know so well. in other words, he took the tortillas out of his poetry, which is to say he took the soul out of his poetry. at a neighborhood fair in texas, somewhere between the german oom-pah sausage stand and the mexican gorditas booth, i overheard a young man say to his friend, “i wish i had a heritage. sometimes i feel—so lonely for one.” and the tall american trees were dangling their thick branches right down over his head. which best states how the structures of both excerpts engage the reader? they employ statistical evidence. they employ figurative language. they employ supporting quotes. they employ an authoritative tone.

Read this excerpt from through the looking-glass by lewis carroll. "you might make a joke on that,” said the little voice close to her ear: "something about ‘you would if you could,’ you know.” "don't tease so,” said alice, looking about in vain to see where the voice came from; "if you're so anxious to have a joke made, why don't you make one yourself? ” the little voice sighed deeply: it was very unhappy, evidently, and alice would have said something pitying to comfort it, "if it would only sigh like other people! ” she thought. but this was such a wonderfully small sigh, that she wouldn't have heard it at all, if it hadn't come quite close to her ear. the consequence of this was that it tickled her ear very much, and quite took off her thoughts from the unhappiness of the poor little creature. what question should a reader ask to clarify what is happening in the story? who or what is the voice speaking to alice? when will alice attempt to share a joke? what secret will alice share with the new character? why do whispers tickle the listener?