The American Dream

[Pages:88]UNIT

1 The American Dream

Visual Prompt: How does this image juxtapose the promise and the reality of the American Dream?

Unit Overview

In this unit you will explore a variety of American voices and define what it is to be an American. If asked to describe the essence and spirit of America, you would probably refer to the American Dream. First coined as a phrase in 1931, the phrase "the American Dream" characterizes the unique promise that America has offered immigrants and residents for nearly 400 years. People have come to this country for adventure, opportunity, freedom, and the chance to experience the particular qualities of the American landscape.

Unit 1 ? The American Dream 1

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UNIT

The American Dream

1

GOALS: ? To understand and define

complex concepts such as the American Dream ? To identify and synthesize a variety of perspectives ? To analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of arguments ? To analyze representative texts from the American experience

ACADEMIC VOCABULARY

primary source structure defend challenge qualify

Literary Terms

exemplification imagery personification synecdoche

Contents

Activities

1.1 Previewing the Unit .................................................................... 4

1.2 Defining a Word, Idea, or Concept............................................... 5 Essay: "A Cause Greater Than Self," by Senator John McCain

1.3 America's Promise....................................................................... 8 Poetry: "The New Colossus," by Emma Lazarus Speech: Excerpt from Address on the Occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Statue of Liberty, by Franklin D. Roosevelt

1.4 America's Voices ....................................................................... 12 Poetry: "I Hear America Singing," by Walt Whitman Poetry: "I, Too, Sing America," by Langston Hughes Poetry: "America," by Claude McKay

1.5 Fulfilling the Promise ................................................................ 16 Short Story: "America and I," by Anzia Yezierska

1.6 Defining an American ................................................................ 27 Letter: "What Is an American?" excerpt from Letters From an American Farmer, "What is an American?" by J. Hector St. John de Cr?vecoeur

1.7 A Hyphenated American............................................................ 32 Essay: "Growing Up Asian in America," by Kesaya E. Noda

1.8 Researching Images of America ................................................ 37 Poetry: "Let America Be America Again," by Langston Hughes

1.9 What Is Freedom?...................................................................... 43 Speech: Excerpt from "The Four Freedoms," by Franklin Delano Roosevelt Historical Document: The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States Historical Document: The Bill of Rights

1.10 Strategies for Defining Freedom................................................ 48 Definition Essay: "What Is Freedom?" by Jerald M. Jellison and John H. Harvey

Embedded Assessment 1: Writing a Definition Essay ........................ 51

1.11 Previewing Embedded Assessment 2 and Synthesizing Ideas ......................................................................................... 53

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1.12 Annotating an Argumentative Text............................................ 55 Argumentative Essay: "Is the American Dream Still Possible?" by David Wallechinsky

1.13 The Structure of an Argument ................................................... 59 Historical Document: The Declaration of Independence

1.14 Coming for the American Dream............................................... 64 Poetry: "Ellis Island," by Joseph Bruchac Poetry: "On Being Brought From Africa To America," by Phillis Wheatley Poetry: "Europe and America," by David Ignatow

1.15 Money and the American Dream ............................................... 68 Poetry: "Money," by Dana Gioia Drama: Excerpt from A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry

1.16 Working Toward the Dream ....................................................... 73 Poetry: "Who Burns for the Perfection of Paper," by Mart?n Espada Nonfiction: Excerpt from Working, "Roberto Acuna Talks About Farm Workers," by Studs Terkel

1.17 The Road to Success ................................................................. 78 Speech: Excerpt from Keynote Address to the 2004 Democratic National Convention, by Barack Obama Essay: "The Right to Fail," by William Zinsser

1.18 American Dream: Real or Imagined? ......................................... 84

Embedded Assessment 2: Synthesizing the American Dream ........... 87

Language and Writer's Craft

? Using Direct Quotes (1.6) ? Quoting Original

Sources (1.7) ? Transitions (1.10)

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Unit 1 ? The American Dream 3

ACTIVITY

1.1

Previewing the Unit

LEARNING STRATEGIES: Think-Pair-Share, Skimming/ Scanning, Marking the Text, Close Reading, KWHL Chart

My Notes

Learning Targets

? Preview the big ideas and vocabulary for the unit. ? Identify and analyze the skills and knowledge necessary for success in writing a

definition essay.

Making Connections

In this unit, you will read a variety of texts and be asked to think about ideas and concepts that are "American." For the first embedded assessment, you will define what it means to be an American. Some words, concepts, and ideas are too complex for a simple definition and require a multi-paragraph essay to define. Definitions also provide a writer the opportunity to clear up misconceptions about a concept or idea. You will learn to define a word or concept using four definition strategies: by example, by classification, by function, and by negation.

Essential Questions

Based on your current knowledge, how would you answer these questions? 1. How do writers use the strategies of definition to define a concept?

2. What is "the American Dream?"

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INDEPENDENT READING LINK To enhance this unit's focus on multiple perspectives on the American Dream, focus your independent reading goals on reading nonfiction essays, memoirs, autobiographies, or biographies that will help you understand how others define the American Dream.

Developing Vocabulary

Use QHT or another strategy to review the Academic Vocabulary and Literary Terms. Decide which ones you may know already and which ones will need additional study.

Unpacking Embedded Assessment 1

Closely read the assignment for Embedded Assessment 1: Writing a Definition Essay. Your assignment is to write a multi-paragraph essay that defines your interpretation of what it means to be an American. This essay should use the strategies of definition and different perspectives from the unit to help you develop a complex and thoughtful definition. If possible, incorporate an iconic image in your essay.

With your class, create a graphic organizer as you "unpack" the requirements of Embedded Assessment 1. What knowledge must you have (what do you need to know) and what skills must you have (what must you be able to do) to be successful on this assignment?

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Defining a Word, Idea, or Concept

ACTIVITY

1.2

Learning Targets

? Apply strategies to define words or concepts. ? Identify the use of exemplification to define a concept.

Defining a Word or Concept

1. Here are two ways to begin the process of creating an extended definition of a complex, general or abstract term, or concept: Synonym: providing a synonym of the word or concept that has a similar meaning to add clarity Formal definition: providing a formal definition of the word from a dictionary that offers a succinct explanation of the word or concept

Example: patriotism Synonyms for the word patriotism: nationalism; partisanship; devotion Synonyms identify words using words that are similar but have slightly different connotations to provide clarity and nuance to understanding.

Formal definition for the word patriotism: love for or devotion to one's country Formal definitions identify words and concepts in three parts: Word, Class, and Characteristics.

Word Patriotism

Class love or devotion

Characteristics to one's country

LEARNING STRATEGIES: Close Reading, Marking the Text, Graphic Organizer

My Notes

Extended Definitions

Extended definitions identify words or concepts using strategies to demonstrate a variety of ways the word or concept may be defined. Extended definitions are useful for providing a complete definition of a word, concept, or idea.

For a word as complex as patriotism, providing a synonym and definition from a dictionary does not offer enough depth. You can extend any definition in a variety of ways:

Exemplification--examples of patriotism Function--what patriotism acts like or functions as Classification--categorizing by type or kind of Negation--what patriotism is not

Definition Strategy: Exemplification

Successful extended definitions go beyond dictionary definitions to expand the definition in order to show the writer's personal understanding. To extend a definition of a concept or term, writers use a variety of strategies. One definition strategy is to define by example by showing specific, relevant examples that fit the writer's definition.

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Unit 1 ? The American Dream 5

Defining a Word, Idea, or Concept

ACTIVITY 1.2 continued

Literary Terms

Using exemplification is to define by example by showing specific, relevant examples that fit the writer's definition.

My Notes

KEY IDEAS AND DETAILS How do the title and the thesis immediately set McCain's purpose? KEY IDEAS AND DETAILS Take a careful look at paragraph 2. How is this part of the definition an extension of the common definition of patriotism?

Before Reading

1. Think of some examples of what patriotism means to you.

During Reading

2. With your partner, find examples of exemplification in Senator McCain's essay and explain how each adds to your understanding of his definition of patriotism. Examples of patriotism should answer the question: What are examples of patriots or patriotism?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican presidential nominee in the 2008 United States election. McCain followed his father and grandfather, both four-star admirals, into the United States Navy, graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1958. During the Vietnam War, in October 1967, while on a bombing mission over Hanoi, he was shot down, seriously injured, and captured by the North Vietnamese. He was a prisoner of war until 1973.

Essay

A Cause Greater Than Self

by Senator John McCain

1 Patriotism means more than holding your hand over your heart during the national anthem. It means more than walking into a voting booth every two or four years and pulling a lever. Patriotism is a love and a duty, a love of country expressed in good citizenship.

2 Patriotism and the citizenship it requires should motivate the conduct of public o cials, but it also thrives in the communal spaces where government is absent, anywhere Americans come together to govern their lives and their communities--in families, churches, synagogues, museums, symphonies, the Little League, the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts, the Salvation Army or the VFW. ey are the habits and institutions that preserve democracy. ey are the ways, small and large, we come together as one country, indivisible, with freedom and justice for all. ey are the responsible exercise of freedom and are indispensable to the proper functioning of a democracy. Patriotism is countless acts of love, kindness and courage that have no witness or heraldry and are especially commendable because they are unrecorded.

3 e patriot must not just accept, but in his or her own way protect the ideals that gave birth to our country: to stand against injustice and for the rights of all and not just one's own interests. e patriot honors the duties, the loyalties, the inspirations and the habits of mind that bind us together as Americans.

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4 We are the heirs and caretakers of freedom--a blessing preserved with the blood of heroes down through the ages. One cannot go to Arlington Cemetery and see name upon name, grave upon grave, row upon row, without being deeply moved by the sacri ce made by those young men and women.

5 And those of us who live in this time, who are the bene ciaries of their sacri ce, must do our smaller and less dangerous part to protect what they gave everything to defend, lest we lose our own love of liberty.

6 Love of country is another way of saying love of your fellow countrymen--a truth I learned a long time ago in a country very di erent from ours. Patriotism is another way of saying service to a cause greater than self-interest.

7 If you nd faults with our country, make it a better one. If you are disappointed with the mistakes of government, join its ranks and work to correct them. I hope more Americans would consider enlisting in our armed forces. I hope more would consider running for public o ce or working in federal, state and local governments. But there are many public causes where your service can make our country a stronger, better one than we inherited.

8 e good citizen and patriot knows happiness is greater than comfort, more sublime than pleasure. e cynical and indi erent know not what they miss. For their mistake is an impediment not only to our progress as a civilization but to their happiness as individuals.

After Reading

3. With a partner, create a graphic organizer that organizes the additional information provided by the essay on the word patriot. Review the synonym and formal definition of the word.

ACTIVITY 1.2 continued

KEY IDEAS AND DETAILS The allusion to Arlington Cemetery serves to focus this part of the definition on what examples of patriotism?

My Notes

Check Your Understanding

Writing Prompt: Using a passage from McCain's essay, write about one way this extended definition expanded your understanding of the word patriot. Be sure to: ? Indicate what passage you are using as a reference. ? Explain your expanded or new understanding. ? Use appropriate transitions to connect ideas.

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Unit 1 ? The American Dream 7

ACTIVITY

1.3

America's Promise

LEARNING STRATEGIES: Previewing, Marking the Text, Think-Pair-Share, SOAPSTone

My Notes

Learning Targets

? Analyze multiple forms of communication (an illustration, a speech, and a poem) to identify major ideas.

? Generate a definition with textual support.

Before Reading

1. The Statue of Liberty has long been a welcoming figure to the millions of immigrants who have come to the United States of America. What feelings or thoughts do you think people might have when looking at the Statue of Liberty for the first time as a new arrival to this country?

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ACADEMIC VOCABULARY

A primary source is an original document or image created by someone who experiences an event first-hand.

Source: "An ocean steamer passing the Statue of Liberty: Scene on the Steerage Deck," from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, July 2, 1887. Reproduced by permission of Accessible Archives.

2. When looking at a primary source such as this illustration, it is important to consider both the message and context of the source. The following guiding questions will help you think about the source and its context: ? What point is the source trying to convey? ? What is the source of the illustration and why is that important? ? Why might the date of the source be significant?

3. With a partner, preview the text on the next page, using the questions to guide your thinking about a primary source.

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