User Friendly by T. Ernesto Bethancourt Introducing the Selection Literary Focus: Discovering Theme Reading Skills: Recognizing Causes and Effects Feature Menu

User Friendly by T. Ernesto Bethancourt

Friends come in all shapes and sizes. In this story, Kevin turns to an unusual friend to help him with a problem. His friend is Louis, his computer! User Friendly by T. Ernesto Bethancourt

[End of Section] When are you going to get me my voice module, Kevin? Repeat last message. I mean, are you going to get me a voice box? User Friendly by T. Ernesto Bethancourt

User Friendly Literary Focus: Discovering Theme As you read “User Friendly,” you will be asked to find the story’s theme—a truth about life that the story demonstrates. You discover theme by thinking not just about what happens in the story, but what the story means. This story shows me that life requires change.

User Friendly Literary Focus: Discovering Theme One way to find a story’s theme is to analyze the characters. As you read, ask yourself these questions: What important comments do the characters make? What situations do they face? What do they learn by the end of the story?

User Friendly Literary Focus: Discovering Theme Another way to find a story’s theme is to think about the title and what it might mean. To analyze the title, ask yourself questions like “What is the literal meaning of the title?” and “What related subjects come to mind?”

User Friendly Literary Focus: Discovering Theme Here’s one more tip to help you discover a story’s theme: Look for key passages that seem to make important statements about life. Ambition often has a price. Friendships have their ups and downs. Accepting responsibilit y is difficult. [End of Section]

In a cause-and-effect relationship, one event causes another event to happen. The effect is what happens, and the cause is why the event happens. User Friendly Reading Skills: Recognizing Causes and Effects Look at these pictures of two related events. Which is the cause? Which is the effect?

User Friendly Reading Skills: Recognizing Causes and Effects In “User Friendly,” Kevin accidentally starts a chain of events that leads to trouble. A causal chain is a series of events in which each event causes another one to happen. Cause Effect Effect/Cause

User Friendly Reading Skills: Recognizing Causes and Effects A graphic organizer like this flowchart can help you record the chain of events as you read. Cause Effect Effect/Cause [End of Section]

In your textbook, there are questions that will help you recognize causes and effects in the story. When you see the symbol, stop and answer the question next to the open-book sign. To help you figure out causes and effects, follow these steps: Identify what happens first. Look for hidden or multiple causes and results. [End of Section] Ask, “What happens because of that?” User Friendly Reading Skills: Recognizing Causes and Effects

User Friendly by T. Ernesto Bethancourt The End

User Friendly Make the Connection: Quickwrite Make the Connection: Quickwrite

User Friendly Make the Connection: Quickwrite Suppose someone you just met said, “My best friend is a computer.” What would that statement tell you about the person? List some character traits you’d guess that the person might have. [End of Section]

User Friendly Meet the Writer Meet the Writer

User Friendly Meet the Writer T. Ernesto Bethancourt, born in 1932, did not become a writer until midlife. The birth of his first daughter inspired him to begin writing stories of his life to share with her. These stories were later published as his autobiography—New York City, Too Far from Tampa Blues. More about the writer. [End of Section]