92 Partn IWritinganEssay
Reading 2
AJapaneseBetrothal!
1 Fora whiletherewasa great,wildspreeofhomecomingcelebrations.Two
442ndvetsmeetingonthestreetwasreasonenoughfora party.Butfinallyit was
timetogetbacktonormalliving.ThefirstthingI didwastoregisteratthe
university.Doctoringwasout,butI didn'tcare.I wantednowtobecomea lawyer,
inthehopeofenteringpubliclife.Theprelawcoursesrequireda lotofwork,an'd
theywereharnessedtomyextracurricularactivitiesinstudentgovernmentand
veterans'organizations.ThenoneunforgettableautumndayI metMargaret
Awamura.Marriagehadneveroccurredtomebeforethatmoment,butafterward,
it neverleftmymind.I proposedonourseconddate.It wasDecember6,1947.
I knowbecausewehavecelebratedtheoccasiontogethereversince.
2 Ofcourse,becausewewerenisei,it wasn'tassimpleasallthat.Assoonas
I informedmyparents,theybegantoarrangethingsintheJapaneseway.Tradition
callsfora ceremonialeventinvolvingnakoudos-go-betweens-whorepresentthe
familiesoftheprospectivebrideandgroomandsettlethetermsofthemarriage.
ByprearrangementtheInouyeteam(myparents,ournakoudos,andI)arrivedat
theAwamuras'oneevening bearinggiftsofrice,sake,andfishandtookplaceson
thefloor.Ournakoudosfacedtheirnakoudosacrossa lowtable.Behindthemsat
therespectivefamilies,theparentsfirstand,farthestawayfromtheaction,Maggie
andme,asthoughwewereonlyincidentalonlookers.NowandthenI caughther
eyeandwesmiledsecretly.Onlythenakoudosspoke.
3 First,giftswereexchanged.Thenoneofourrepresentativesbegantoextolthe
virtuesofDanielKenInouye,a fineupstandingman,a warhero,andsoforth.Next,
oursidelistenedtoa recitationofMaggie'squalities:shehadearneda master's
degree,shewasanaccomplishedseamstress,andherfamily'sreputationforhonor
wasunimpeachable.(Iwouldhavelikedtoaddthatshewasbeautiful,too.)
4 Thenakoudosconsultedbrieflywiththeirclientsandrecommendedthatthe
marriagebeapproved.Thenatlastglasseswerefilled,anda toastwasdrunk.
MaggieandI wereengaged-officially!Ouestions AbouttheOrganization
- Thisreadingcouldbedividedintotwoparts.
a.Whatis thetopicofthefirstpart?
b. Whatis thetopicofthesecondpart?
c.Whichsentenceservesasa transitionbetweenthetwoparts?
d.Whichpartexplainsa process? - Circleallthechronologicalordersignalsintheexcerpt.
IInouye,Daniel."AJapaneseBetrothal."GoforBroke:CondensedfromJourneyto Washington. 25 Aug. 2003
<http://inouye.senate.gov/gfb/text.html#betrothal>.