“Homeless” by Anna Quindlen

1. “Homeless” by Anna Quindlen • Holt Literature p. 369 • problem-solution essay • originally an editorial in the New York Times

2. Anna Quindlen • Author, journalist and opinion columnist • Her column in the New York Times, Public and Private, won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1992. • She left journalism in 1995 to become a full-time novelist. • In 1999, shejoined Newsweek, writing a bi-weekly column until announcing her semi-retirement in the May 18, 2009 issue of the magazine. • Quindlen is known as a critic of what she perceives to be the fast-paced and increasingly materialistic nature of modern American life. • Much of her personal writing centers on her mother who died at the age of 40 from ovarian cancer, when Quindlen was 19 years old. • She has written five best-selling novels, three of which have been made into movies (One True Thing, Black and Blue, and Blessings).

3. Vocabulary anonymous- adjective – having no known name or origin; lacking qualities that make one different legacy – noun – anything handed down from an ancestor or from the past enfeebled – adjective – lacking force, strength or effectiveness; weakened

4. Characteristics of a problem-solution essay: • a short work of non-fiction • describes a real life problem • presents one or more solutions • appears in newspapers or magazines • is journalistic in tone

5. Author’s purpose – the author’s reason for creating a particular workThe purpose may be to explain, to inform, to entertain, to express an opinion, to reflect, or to persuade readers to believe or do something. Determining author’s purpose: • Sometimes the author’s purpose is directly stated. • Often, however, the reader must infer the author’s purpose from the author’s statements, words, details, and descriptions or from the themes of the work. • Make a two-column chart. • Notice which parts of the topic Quindlen focuses on. • Write down the author’s direct statements about the way she thinks or feels about the topic. • Note words and details she uses to describe the topic. • Think about what these elements of her essay tell you about her purpose for writing