CRITICAL READING Faculty-Written Texts What, Why, and How? Jamie has been teaching at Skyline since 1990 FICTION: “Salute” by James Tipton 1 1.

CRITICAL READINGFaculty-Written Texts

What, Why, and How?

Jamie has been teaching at Skyline since 1990

FICTION: “Salute” by James Tipton

11

James Tipton is the author of Annette Vallon, A Novel of the French Revolution (HarperCollins, 2008), which was a San Francisco Chronicle Bestseller and a Barnes & Noble Discover Pick. He has also published short fiction and a book of poetry, Sacred Places (1989). He holds a PhD in English, a Masters Degree in Creative Writing, and has been a full time Lecturer at University of California, Davis, and at the University of Bordeaux, France. For over twenty years he has taught literature and writing in the Bay Area, where he lives in Marin County with his family. James first started teaching at Skyline College in the fall of 1990.

(1) What was your earliest experience with death as a child – of a pet or a person?

(2) What are some ways in which a parent can create strong bonds with a child?

(1) Why does the writer include the specific details of the pots and drawers thrown off the wagons on the Oregon Trail and the white egret on the river? How do these details act as symbols, connecting to the theme(s) of the essay?

(2) How does the father’s service in the war play a key role in this essay? Think about the title of the story and the way the author ends it.

(1) Examine how love is expressed between father and son in the different short scenes in the essay. Identify and discuss the most important descriptive details

that illustrate their close relationship.

(2) In the beginning, the father cares for the son; later in the story the son cares for

the father. Write about the cycle of life, the ways in which a child can learn how

to be nurturing from a parent.

that concludes

CRITICAL READINGFaculty-Written Texts

“Salute” by James Tipton

11