An Ordinary Man RACE Strategy

Mastering the RACE Writing Strategy with An Ordinary Man

Use the RACE strategy to write strong responses supported by evidence from the text.

What is RACE?

R – Restate the question
A – Answer the question
C – Cite evidence from the text
E – Explain how the evidence supports your answer

Multiple Choice

What does the “R” in RACE stand for?

• Revise the sentence

• Read the article

• Restate the question

• Reflect on your answer

Read This Excerpt from An Ordinary Man

"I do not consider myself a hero. I only did what a hotel manager must do. A real hero is someone who willingly walks into the unknown and risks his life for others without thinking twice."

​What is Paul Rusesabagina trying to communicate in this passage?

Multiple Choice

"I do not consider myself a hero. I only did what a hotel manager must do. A real hero is someone who willingly walks into the unknown and risks his life for others without thinking twice."

What is Rusesabagina trying to show in this quote?

• That he acted out of duty, not fame

• That he was forced to act

• That he thinks he is a hero

• That managing a hotel is dangerous

RACE Strategy: Let's Start With R & A

Look at the question:

Why does Rusesabagina say he is not a hero?

R – Paul Rusesabagina says he is not a hero.
A – He believes he was simply doing his job as a hotel manager.

This is how we start our paragraph!

Multiple Choice

Which part of RACE is this sentence?
"Paul Rusesabagina says he is not a hero."

• Cite

• Explain

• Restate

• Answer

​Citing Text Evidence

Now we need C – Cite:

Use sentence starters like:

• According to the text…

• The author writes…

Example: According to the text, “I only did what a hotel manager must do.”

Multiple Choice

Which sentence is the BEST example of citing evidence?

• Paul says stuff about being a manager.

• “I only did what a hotel manager must do.”

• Paul is not a hero.

• He thinks he is doing his job.

E is for Explain

Now let’s finish the paragraph with E – Explain:

This shows that...

• He acted out of responsibility, not to gain praise.

• He wants the reader to understand that true heroism is selfless.

Explain how your quote supports your answer!

Multiple Choice

Which part of the RACE strategy is the following sentence?

"Paul Rusesabagina says he is not a hero."

• Restate

• Answer

• Cite

• Explain

Multiple Choice

Which part of the RACE strategy is the following sentence?

"He believes he was simply doing his job."

• Restate

• Answer

• Cite

• Explain

Multiple Choice

Which part of the RACE strategy is the following sentence?

"According to the text, 'I only did what a hotel manager must do.'"

• Restate

• Answer

• Cite

• Explain

Multiple Choice

Which part of the RACE strategy is the following sentence?

"This shows that he acted out of duty and not for fame."

• Restate

• Answer

• Cite

• Explain

Open Ended

Practice Writing:

Why does Rusesabagina reject the label “hero”?

R: Paul Rusesabagina says…

Open Ended

Practice Writing:

Why does Rusesabagina reject the label “hero”?

A: He believes…

Open Ended

Practice Writing:

Why does Rusesabagina reject the label “hero”?

C: According to the text…

Open Ended

Practice Writing:

Why does Rusesabagina reject the label “hero”?

E: This shows that…

Poll

Which part of RACE is hardest for you?

• Restating

• Answering

• Citing Evidence

• Explaining the Evidence

• I got this. It is easy.