Oranges by Gary Soto Think Question 1 What do you learn about the speaker, his actions, and the setting in lines 1–11? Cite evidence from the text to support your answer

Oranges by Gary Soto

The speaker was having his first date with a girl he admired, because it was "the first time, I walked with a girl."

He later decided to buy the girl some chocolate to celebrate their date.  But, what he enjoyed most was their holding each other's hand while walking, "and led her down the street."

The setting was a walk down the street in December, under a frosty weather with "Frost cracking beneath my steps."

Explanation:

Oranges is a short poem written by Gary Soto and first published in 1985.  It chronicled the experiences of a teenager meeting his first date at that tender age of 12.  The twelve-year-old boy went to the girl's house on a cold December morning, bringing two oranges in his pocket to share with her.

However, when they entered a drugstore, the girl chose some chocolate which costs more than he could afford, potentially embarrassing the boy.  All the same, he had to pay for it, as boys do when they are in the presence of the opposite sex.

what: when quoting a source, use the author’s words verbatim, or word-for-word. this means you shouldn’t change any grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc. put quotations around the words to tell your reader where the quote begins and where it ends.

you also need to acknowledge the author. for example, if using mla format for your research paper, you should have in-text citations with the author’s name and page number listed at the end of each quote.

when: use quotations to provide concrete examples to support your claims. using direct quotations is a great way to build your credibility on the subject. it’s also a good idea to quote your source when the author states things in a powerful way. if you think he or she said it best, then use the exact words to share the ideas.

example: in the short story “a jury of her peers”, mrs. hale compares mrs. wright to her caged bird, saying “she—come to think of it, she was kind of like a bird herself. real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and—fluttery. how—she—did—change” (glaspell).

paraphrasing

what: paraphrasing differs from quoting because you restate the passage in your own words. since you don’t use the author’s words, you don’t need to use quotation marks. however, you still need to acknowledge the author for his or her ideas.

when paraphrasing a text, you should communicate the full meaning of the text; don’t change the meaning. it can be a condensed version of the text, or it could end up being longer than the source it’s paraphrasing.

when: you use paraphrasing when you take notes, or explain a chart or diagram to someone. paraphrasing highlight the important parts of a larger text. it also allows you to simplify the ideas for your readers.

example:

original: “it was no ordinary thing that called her away–it was probably further from ordinary than anything that had ever happened in dickson county. but what her eye took in was that her kitchen was in no shape for leaving: her bread all ready for mixing, half the flour sifted and half unsifted” (glaspell).

paraphrase: as mrs. hales walks around mrs. wright’s home, she notices that the kitchen is in disarray as if she was in the middle of baking bread (glaspell).