1. After reading Zwiers’ and Dutro’s description of brick and mortar words, my own conclusion is that “brick” words are those that are specific to a content area, like that of Science or History, whereas “mortar” words are going to be those that could also define the content area, or explain and connect the “brick” word or set of words to one another, however as each author shares the mortar words can be harder to define and they also are widely used between subject areas, therefore our focus should not only be on the “brick” words but the “mortar” as well.
Texts used for this assignment (in order): * Gawande, A. (2009). The cost conundrum: What a Texas town can teach us about health care. New Yorker. Available at http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/06/01/090601fa_fact_gawande * Tan, A. (1990). Mother tongue. In The opposite of fate: Memoirs of a writing life. New York: Putnam's Sons. Available at http://teachers.sduhsd.k12.ca.us/mcunningham/grapes/mother%20tounge.pdf
2. It was sleek and modern, with recessed lighting, classical music piped into the waiting areas, and nurses moving from patient to patient behind rolling black computer pods. We changed into scrubs and Alleyn took me through the sixteen operating rooms to show me the laparoscopy suite, with its flat-screen video monitors, the hybrid operating room with built-in imaging equipment, the surgical robot for minimally invasive robotic surgery.
You should know that my mother's expressive command of English belies how much she actually understands. She reads the Forbes report, listens to Wall Street Week, converses daily with her stockbroker, reads all of Shirley MacLaine's books with ease--all kinds of things I can't begin to understand.
