An Improvised Life

Alan Arkin, the author and subject of the excerpt, is an American actor and director

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​Some text here about the topic of discussion.

Alan Arkin

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Multiple Choice

According to the excerpt, what did Alan Arkin know he wanted to be from the age of 5?

• A Director

• An Actor

• A Painter

• A Poet

Multiple Choice

What do the following lines suggest: "My father... living with the ache of not having achieved his dreams... mostly hoped I'd grow out of the idea... But my fate had been sealed... and my father bit his tongue"

• The father didn't achieve his dreams, so he didn't want his son to pursue acting.

• The father was fully supportive of his son pursuing acting, even though he didn't achieve his dreams.

• The father knew it was difficult to succeed in acting, but didn't discourage his son from pursuing it.

Multiple Choice

What does the expression "bit his tongue" mean as used in the story?

• Did not say what he was thinking.

• Literally bit his tongue.

• Said mean things.

Multiple Choice

The prompt asks, "Explain how Alan Arkin's early memories affected his behavior later in life." Which of the following should you NOT do in your response?

• Cite evidence from the excerpt about his memories.

• Write a thesis statement that answers the prompt directly.

• Make claims that support the thesis statement.

• Summarize the excerpt.

​The first memory...

​The first memory described is a trip to the movies with his father. At age 8, Alan Arkin found himself bored by the movie for grown-ups so he decided to entertain himself. He imagined himself in the scene, but instead of being an actor on-screen he imagined he was hidden inside a closet and watching the actors. While imagining himself in this scene he realized the actors weren't behaving realistically, playing to an unseen audience instead of engaging each other.

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This memory shows that even from such a young age he was critiquing the work of other actors in order to perfect his own craft. Additionally, he was comparing the acting to expressions in reality, a comparison that would be flipped in the second memory shared.

​The second memory...

​The second memory shared involved Alan Arkin playing on the floor while a friend of his mother vented her emotions. Here, Arkin finds himself viewing this display similarly to the way he viewed the scene from the movie in the previous memory. Instead of feeling sympathy for the woman, he judged her "performance" by his own acting standards. His response is incredibly selfish, concluding that her story wasn't moving because she was too wrapped up in her own emotions to allow him to insert his emotions. Arkin was only 8 years old, but already reality had taken a back seat to acting in his mind; the theater was more important than life.

​Many years later... the reflection

​The first two memories demonstrate how Arkin had placed the art of acting above all else from a young age. The final more recent memory reveals the consequences that decision had upon his humanity. He tells us that he had become more connected to his own emotional life, meaning there had been personal growth from his childhood. This growth allowed him to see himself reflected back at him when he breaks bad news to a coworker and fellow actress. While her initial response to the news is genuine, she quickly realized the response would work in her acting and instead of living in that emotional moment she thought purely as an actor and gauged Arkin's response to her face. Reflecting upon this, Arkin realizes he had done the same thing for many years. This realization throws Arkin into despair and makes him feel revulsed at the idea of placing the craft before humanity.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following could fill in the blanks of this thematic statement:

The excerpt from "An Improvised Life: A Memoir" by Alan Arkin is about _______ and reveals _______________________.

• acting; how important acting was to Alan Arkin

• life; life is precious and should be cherished

• humanity; sacrificing genuine emotional connections for a craft can crush a person's humanity

• death; death comes for all regardless of station

Multiple Choice

When writing an academic paper, when is it okay to refer to the subject by only their first name outside of quotations?

• Never, they aren't your friend so don't be so familiar.

• Anytime, we call everyone by their first name.

​Today's Assignment

​Login to Clever, go to Ed Friend in Learning, then go to Writable. We are going to first re-read the excerpt from "An Improvised Life: A Memoir," complete a graphic organizer over the material, then revise and edit our submissions for the Q1 Midpoint and submit via Writable.

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Remember: you are being asked ​explain how his early memories affected his behavior later in life, NOT to summarize the excerpt.