Meaning

1. What’s the story about? Which paragraph indicates the idea? Where is the main idea usually found?

2. Is the author, Geoffrey Canada, a success?

3. Did his mother “succeed”? his grandmother? Explain your answer.

Method

1. Do you agree with the following quotation:

“There are some Americans who think poverty stems from a lack of values and determination. But you can work hard all your life, have impeccable values and still be poor”.

2. Describe the author’s childhood. Was he happy? Did he grow up in a loving environment? What was his relationship with his mother? his grandmother? What did she teach him?

3. How does the author conclude? What makes this article so powerful?

Discovering Rhetorical Strategies

1. G.Canada uses a symbolic title to his essay “Cherries to my grandmother”. What do cherries mean to him? Explain your answer.

2. What words does author use to describe his childhood and his granny? Give examples.

Composition

According to Geoffrey Canada, the author of “Cherries For My Grandma”, poverty is “tough on families in many ways. It’s not quite as simple to get out of as people make out… You can climb all your life and never make it out”. Canada describes his own childhood movingly to illustrate his point. He describes his relationship with both his mother and his grandmother.

Describe one of your childhood relationships with an adult who had a powerful influence over you. Give specific examples of things that you did together and memories you have of this person. If possible, explain how this person or experience influenced your opinions today.

Articles nicholas dawidoff (born November 30, 1962)

Nicholas Dawidoff graduated Harvard University and started working as a writer and began working at Sports Illustrated Magazine, where he became a staff writer covering baseball and the environment.

In 1991 he resigned from Sports Illustrated and began writing books. He continues to write articles, on a variety of topics, for periodicals like The Wall Street Journal, The New Republic and The New York Times Magazine, where he is now a contributing writer.

Dawidoff has also been a Guggenheim Fellow and a Civitella Ranieri Fellow, as well as a Berlin Prize Fellow of the American Academy. In 2008 he was the Anschutz Distinguished Fellow at (Princeton University), where he continues to teach occasionally, as he does at (Sarah Lawrence College). He is a member of the board of directors of The MacDowell Colony.

Pre-reading activity

Before you read the article, discuss what you know about panhandling.

1. Who gives more to panhandlers, a “working class guy” or a “guy in a suit”?

2. If a panhandler “looks you in the eye” are you more or less likely to give?

3. Do most panhandlers take drugs? have mental problems? tell the truth?

4. What do you think how panhandling is punished in your own country and in Europe?

5. How much money do panhandlers make each day?

a) less than $ 10 b) between $ 25-100 c) $ 200-300