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Suggestions for Writing 5

Redefining America: 2001 to the Present Suggestions for Writing

1. In On Native Grounds, American writer and critic Alfred Kazin wrote, “the greatest
single fact about our modern American writing is our writers’ absorption in every detail
of their American world together with their deep and subtle alienation from it.” Choose
at least three works from this chapter and analyze them through the lens of Kazin’s
observation.
2. Is multiculturalism a better model than assimilation? Write an essay in which you evaluate
the pros and cons of each and then indicate your own position on the issue. Use sources
in this chapter and your outside reading as support.
3. Write a letter to your imagined teenage child about the future of the United States as you
predict it will be. Consider the strengths of the nation in light of today’s challenges. Offer
advice that will sustain this young person through whatever they are experiencing. Cite
at least two of the texts you’ve read in this chapter along with insights from your own
experience.
4. In his 2015 speech on the 50th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday” in Selma, Alabama,
President Barack Obama, asserted, “Two hundred and thirty-nine years after this nation’s
founding, our union is not yet perfect, but we are getting closer.” To what extent do you
believe that at this moment in our nation’s history, we are “getting closer” to the idea of “a
more perfect union”? Use your knowledge of history and current events along with at least
two of the texts in this chapter to develop your position.
5. The following quotation is from “The Propaganda of History,” a chapter in Black
Reconstruction in America (1935) written by W.E.B. Dubois, an African American
Intellectual, historian, and civil rights activist: “Nations reel and stagger on their way; they
make hideous mistakes; they commit frightful wrongs; they do great and beautiful things.
And shall we not best guide humanity by telling the truth about all this, so far as the truth
is ascertainable?” What “truths” do you believe should be acknowledged as part of our
shared heritage in order to move confidently forward? Include at least three of the texts
you’ve read in this chapter to explain and support your position.
6. In February 2020, Time magazine’s lead story was entitled “Youthquake: How the World
Will Change When a New Generation Leads.” The issue explored what the near future will
look like when a new generation with different cultural tastes, expectations of work life,
views on climate change, perspectives on the transformations brought by social media,
and politics moves into adulthood. Identify one area that you think a new generation of
leadership will likely disrupt and significantly change, and discuss what changes you
expect to see in the American landscape. Refer to at least three texts from this chapter as
you develop your position.

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